Yahoo News Alcoholic thug grabbed girlfriend by hair then delivered '30 blows to her head'
An alcoholic who repeatedly punched his partner after she asked for "an hour to herself" is back behind bars.
Mark Learoyd had only been out of prison for two weeks when he attacked his girlfriend - who was left with bruises on her head. She told police that he had "beat the s*** out of her" and punched her "30 times to the head".
The 48-year-old says he has no memory of the attack because he had been drinking. On Thursday, Teesside Crown Court heard that the police were called to Learoyd's partner's home after he walked towards a woman whilst brandishing a knife.
His girlfriend's pal managed to grab the knife off Learoyd, but in the process she sustained cuts to her thumb and finger. Learoyd's partner told police that she had asked her friend to come round and help her get him out of her house.
She then told officers that she tried to call them the night before but Learoyd had grabbed her by the hair to stop her leaving the room and took her phone off her. Learoyd had punched his partner after she asked for some "time to herself."
He pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and to threatening a person with a blade. He had just been released from a nine-month sentence for battery and threatening a person.
In March 2022, Learoyd was jailed for a year, after he knocked a man unconscious, in a one punch attack. At the time, the Middlesbrough court heard that Learoyd is physically impaired after suffering a stroke in 2015.
In mitigation, Martin Scarborough told the court that Learoyd is trying to get help from his drink addiction and is on the waiting list at HMP Leeds, for rehabilitative treatment. Mr Scarborough said he had been recalled to prison after committing his latest offences because he was on licence.
Judge Timothy Stead told Learoyd, of Brook Terrace in Darlington, that his girlfriend was left bruised. "She says you delivered 30 blows to her. The way she put it is that you 'beat the s*** out of her'." Learoyd was jailed for 18-months.
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