Anger issue boyfriend battered partner black and blue for an hour

A man with anger issues battered his partner "black and blue" and even stamped on her with steel toe cap boots during a brutal hour-long attack.

Caleb Empett, 24, had started trashing the flat he shared with his partner in Troon when she came home with an Indian takeaway before taking his anger out on her beating her senseless.

During a sentencing hearing at Truro Crown Court today (Friday, January 24), Edward Bailey, prosecuting, told the court that on that evening on June 17, 2023, his partner came home to find pictures that would normally have been on the walls strewn about the place and a knife protruding from the mattress of the bed.

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Empett was angry and turned his anger to her and started throwing stuff at her. Mr Bailey said during the violence that lasted for an hour, Empett punched his partner in the head and all over he body, grabbed her by the throat until she struggled to breathe and kicked her and stamped on her while wearing steel toe cap boots.

"The attack was prolonged," he told the court. "And during that hour it happened all over the flat. he jumped on her. He held her down and beat her up. He pulled her off the bed and she landed hard on the floor and cut her leg on the smashed glass.

"He destroyed her canvas and beat her up with it. He threw a bin at her and hurled a glass table towards her. He smashed a chair against the wall and used the pieces to beat her up.

"This was a brutal and sustained attack and she was battered black and blue. She felt dehumanised and a mere rag doll and when she tried to leave he punched her some more because he was worried she'd call the police and the neighbours would hear."

Empett, 24, from Black Yards in Sevenoaks, Kent, only stopped beating his partner up when he got tired and his hands had reduced to a painful mess and he felt sick from headbutting the fixtures in the flat. "The attack stopped because he was exhausted," Mr Bailey added.

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Empett left the property and his victim sought refuge with a friend and spent the night in hospital. In a victim impact statement read out in court, she said: "Despite all this I love him to bits but he needs to learn that this was not okay. It was a side of him I had never seen before. I want him to get the mental health support he needs."

The court was told that in police interviews Empett, who later pleaded guilty to one charge of causing actual bodily harm, blamed his poor mental health and insisted that he was not a violent man.

In his defence, Ramsay Quaife, said there was a prospect of rehabilitation for Empett, adding that society is going to be better served if Empett receives the intervention he needs.

His Honour Judge Simon Carr said the brutality and violence he had inflicted on his partner warranted an immediate custody. He said that on the night in question Empett had behaved in a "really appalling violent manner" adding: "What triggered it, only you know. Your partner was kicked and stamped on with steel toe cap boots. It went on for an hour. There was strangulation.

"You have shown remorse but you continue to victim blame and implied that your victim was responsible for you losing your temper. It couldn't have been further from the truth. An assault of this brutality on a woman who thought she was going to die was so serious a custodial sentence is necessary."

Empett was sentenced to 18 months in prison and will serve 40 per cent before being released on licence. There is also a restraining order for 10 years not to contact his victim in place.

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