"Don't think I won't hit you because your mate is here"

A victim of domestic abuse "asked her friend to get a coffee" as a secret code to signal her friend to call the police. Scott Berry viciously punched his girlfriend in the face during an unprovoked assault, leaving her with two black eyes.

He then threatened to shoot his partner and subjected her to a second attack when he was "in a bad mood because he had no cannabis". Officers later discovered he had an imitation firearm hidden inside a sports bag after attending the scene.

Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday afternoon, Tuesday, that Berry had been in an "on and off" relationship with Amy Dwyer for around five years, with the couple sharing a two-year-old child. She alleged that the 32-year-old, of no fixed address, had subjected her to "mental and physical abuse" on earlier occasions, although he has never been convicted of such offences previously.

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David Polglase, prosecuting, outlined how she had also been subject to bail conditions banning her from any contact with the defendant due to an alleged malicious communications offence. But Ms Dwyer was said to have "felt pressured" to allow him to continue living at her flat on Stanley Road in Bootle before an incident on September 7 this year, during which Berry punched her to the face twice and left her with black eyes after she told him to leave her property.

Just over a week later on September 15, when the couple were present in the address with her friend Taygan McClure, he was described as being "agitated and in a bad mood because he had no cannabis to smoke". After another argument broke out, he threatened: "Don't think I won't hit you because your mate is here. I don't care if you brought your mate here for protection. I'll shoot you in the face and I'll shoot Taygan in the face."

Ms McClure offered to lend Berry money to purchase drugs for himself, but this only "seemed to agitate him". As she began to make her way to the front door, Ms Dwyer "asked her to get a coffee" - which the two had previously agreed to use as a "safe word", indicating that she should call the police.

The complainant attempted to leave with her friend, but her boyfriend grabbed her legs and took off her shoes in order to prevent her from doing so. As Ms McClure ran away from the scene, Berry closed the door and punched his partner to the ribs.

Officers then attended the apartment and recovered a blank-firing pistol from inside a sports bag alongside blank cartridges. The gun's barrel was said to have remained obstructed, with the weapon not having been converted in order to enable the firing of live ammunition.

While Berry did not produce any firearm during the incident, Ms Dwyer "described him as having been in possession of such a hand gun" previously. She was said to have asked him to remove the item from her home, but he did not do so.

A neighbour, Leah Denton, also reported that Berry had asked her to mind the blank-firing pistol, although she refused. Berry has a total of 14 previous convictions for 28 offences, last appearing before the courts for criminal damage in 2020.

Charles Lander, defending, said: "He was released from his last custodial sentence in December 2015. There has been a long gap before he has been back in custody. Save for one relatively minor matter, he has stayed out of trouble since then."

Mr Lander told the court that his client had sourced the weapon after receiving threats from a man who was accused alongside Ms Dwyer in the matter which had saw her banned from contacting Berry, adding: "He says it was a fantasy. He was never going to use it, but he accepts that he did have it.

"He does not have a history of violence. There is a background in relation to his health. He suffers from ADHD. He also, aged 18, had an issue with his heart which led to an internal pacemaker being placed in him.

"He is keen to find himself work once he is released. In the few weeks he has spend in custody, he has made constructive steps. His aim is to continue those constructive steps."

Berry admitted possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, making threats to kill and two counts of assault. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was jailed for 20 months and handed a seven-year restraining order.

Sentencing, Judge Neil Flewitt KC said: "You threatened to shoot her and her friend in the face. That was not an idle threat. They both knew that you were in possession of a blank-firing pistol.

"After those threats had been made and as Ms Dwyer was attempting to leave the premises you punched her to the ribs, causing bruising. That was not the first time you have used violence towards her, because you had assaulted her the previous week.

"The background to all of this is the breakdown of your relationship. It seems that she had been on bail at the time for an offence committed against you, and you had been threatened by her new partner.

"While it provides some explanation for your possession of the weapon, it provides no excuse. It is right to note that it has been some time since you last spent any time in custody."