Thug told girlfriend 'I'm sorry but you need to die' as he bit her face in terrifying attack

A brute who unleashed a horrific attack on his girlfriend, threatening to bite off her nose and "chop her up and put her in the bin" has been brought to justice.

Richard Cairns subjected his partner to a savage and extended beating, eventually throwing her into the street without clothes. He also delivered repeated punches to her face and strangled her while questioning, "why are you still alive? ", before morbidly musing, "What if I woke up to you this morning as a corpse? ".

Liverpool Crown Court was informed yesterday, Wednesday, that 54 year old Cairns had been with his victim, whose identity is being protected, for about nine years until their separation on December 11 last year. They reconnected over the festive period after his father had an accident, leading to her visiting him at his home on December 30.

Eve Salter, prosecuting, recounted how Cairns's relatives were present at the house that evening but left later, leaving the couple chatting with neighbours by the front door. Cairns, from Ridsdale in Widnes, then abruptly seized her and declared: "I love you, but I hate you."

The father proceeded to yank at her hoodie and commanded, "go and get your stuff and f*** off". However, when she complied and packed her things, he tore her bag and coat away, insisting: "You're not going anywhere.", reports the Liverpool Echo.

Unhinged, Cairns forcefully yanked her jumper off, shoved her onto a mattress in the living room, removed her clothing and straddled her. He placed his hands around her neck making her struggle for breath whilst telling her: "Why are you still breathing? Why are you still alive? " inducing fear of imminent death.

He continued with the horrifying ordeal by placing a pillow over her distressed face and bit her on the cheek and nose, threatening: "I'm going to bite it off and swallow it so they can't stitch it back on. I'm sorry but you need to die, you need to die."

Following this, he proceeded to throttle her again, causing her to lose consciousness. After coming round, she shockingly found her attacker casually concocting a beverage.

Upon noticing her awaken, he chillingly dared her: "F***ing move. I dare you."

She bravely voiced out her desperate need to go to the bathroomonly to be violently struck across the face by him, leading to another spell of unconsciousness. When she stirred awake, she was brutally escorted to the bathroom.

Even so, he maintained a terrifying grip on her in the midst of her utilising the facilities. Subsequently, he cruelly lugged her towards the front door uttering: "Let's see if the neighbours want you."

Exposed and defenceless at this stage, she shared how overwhelmingly "terrified and humiliated" she felt after being nudged out into the street. She was however permitted inside later where she was tugged onto the living room mattress againthis time to endure multiple punches to the head.

Cairns menacingly instructed her to "stay there and don't ever move" after which she "cried herself to sleep". She vividly remembered him asserting: "If I can't have you, no one can."

Upon waking the following morning, Cairns made chilling remarks: "I can't believe you're still alive. What if I woke up to you this morning as a corpse? ".

He further alarmed her by saying, "I'd have probably chopped you up and put you in the bin. I'm suicidal and I don't know what to do."

Later that New Year's Eve, Cairns joined her family gathering but was eventually asked to leave due to a shift in his demeanour. Following the event, the police were alerted about the assault.

During his arrest, Cairns remained silent when questioned by detectives.

The victim expressed her despair in a statement to the court, revealing: "I don't feel like I want to be here any more. I'm a nervous wreck and afraid of my own shadow. I'm not the same person any more. Sometimes I wake up and think, why am I existing? ".

She lamented, "He's completely ruined my life and taken everything away from me."

Her eldest son also shared his anguish, stating: "Seeing my bubbly, happy mum turn into a shell of herself was absolutely heartbreaking. All I want is for my mum to be safe and to move on with her life in any way she can."

Cairns' criminal history includes three prior convictions spanning three offences: assault occasioning actual bodily harm in 1985, criminal damage in 1987, and wounding from a pub altercation in 2016.

Defending, Daniel Travers told the court: "It appears that the loss of his mother seems to have had an impact on him, but clearly alcohol is one of the key factors in relation to this incident. There does appear to have been a history of callouts to the address, and there does appear to be reference to him calling the police on her."

Travers added: "Clearly, the defendant's behaviour on that evening was cruel and will have had a substantial impact on her. It would have been incredibly humiliating and frightening."

In terms of Cairns' behaviour, Travers said: "This does appear not to have been the most serious physical injuries. This is his first conviction in a domestic setting."

The defence lawyer continued: "It may be that this custodial sentence will enable Mr Cairns to reflect on his behaviour. Clearly, he has had a positive previous relationship and a positive relationship with his children and a good work ethic."

"On release, he will seek secure employment and maintain those relationships with his children. He does, through me, apologise profusely."

Cairns confessed to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and intentional strangulation. Further charges of false imprisonment, intentional suffocation and making threats to kill were ordered to lie on file after his guilty pleas were accepted by The Crown Proseciation Service.

Appearing remotely via video link to HMP Altcourse, he received a jail term of three years and four months.

During sentencing, Judge David Aubrey KC condemned the defendant's actions, stating: "You not only assaulted your victim, you humiliated her. You degraded her and you stripped her naked."

"I am satisfied that you are a jealous, possessive and obsessive man. It is difficult to imagine the fear, apprehension and anxiety that she must have been feeling."

"She was struggling to breathe. She believed that she was going to die."

"She tried to fight you off, but it was a forlorn task because you were much stronger than her. You even said to her, such must have been the nature and length of that act of strangulation, 'why are you still breathing, why are you still alive? '."

"You then started to bite her cheek and nose, and then graphically stated 'I'm going to bite it off and swallow it so that they can't stitch it back on'. You then even asserted 'I'm sorry but you need to die, you need to die'."

"There is very little mitigation, other than your plea of guilty. I take into account everything that has been advanced on your behalf realistically and eloquently by Mr Travers, your counsel."

"In my judgement, you do represent a significant risk of causing harm to members of the public in the future but this court is constrained to imposing a determinate sentence upon you as you do not have a relevant earlier offence. Furthermore, the maximum sentence in respect of each offence is one of five years imprisonment and I must give you credit for your pleas of guilty."

Cairns also received an indefinite restraining order, and Judge Aubrey expressed disappointment with the case's handling at the hearing's conclusion: "I want a full explanation from the reviewing lawyer who gave the instruction to counsel to accept the pleas that they did."

He added: "My sentencing powers were limited. It is difficult to imagine what the defence, in particular to the allegation of false imprisonment, could possibly have been."

He mentioned: "I would have imposed a significantly longer sentence. Bearing in mind my assessment of the defendant, it would have been an indeterminate sentence."

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