Violent boyfriend told girlfriend he would run a bath and drown her in it

-Credit: (Image: Humberside Police)
-Credit: (Image: Humberside Police)


A violent bully left his girlfriend with a nasty wound on her face after angrily hurling a heavy cat tree tower across the living room – causing it to bounce off a door and hit her.

Aggressive and bad-tempered Liam Guffick also threatened to kill her one day and warned her that he would run a bath and drown her. He also put her in a headlock and spat at her, Hull Crown Court heard.

Guffick, 22, of Trinity Road, Bridlington, admitted offences of assaulting his girlfriend, causing actual bodily harm, on May 22, assaulting her on June 15, intimidating her as a witness on June 18 and assaulting a female police officer as an emergency worker on June 15.

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Rachel Scott, prosecuting, said that Guffick and the woman had an argument in the living room on May 22 and he picked up a cat tree – a tower that is used for cats to climb around and claw at. He threw it across the room and it bounced off a door and hit her on the side of her face, causing a wound.

On June 15, there was another argument and Guffick started making threats, saying that he would kill her one day. He said that he would run a bath and drown her. "He spat on the kitchen floor and she threw a cup, which smashed near him," said Miss Scott.

Guffick put the woman in a headlock and tried to pull her towards the stairs. She ended up sitting on the stairs and he poured sugar over her.

"He spat in her face and she spat back at him," said Miss Scott. Police arrived and Guffick tried to run off up the stairs. Guffick kicked his leg back at a female police officer, hitting her in the chest and winding her.

He tried to jump out of a bedroom window and the officer grabbed hold of his leg to try to stop him escaping. During a struggle, she ended up pushed up against a washing line and this was tight against her neck, restricting her breathing.

She had to let him go and fell. She suffered nasty injuries, with a red line across her neck.

The witness intimidation happened when Guffick turned up at the woman's friend's home looking for her and tapping on the window. He asked for his belongings and he tried to enter the property through a a small window. He had to be pushed out.

Guffick had convictions for 19 previous offences, including nine of assaults.

Oliver Shipley, mitigating, said that Guffick hoped that, one day, both sides would be able to move on from this. "The defendant accepts that this behaviour was wholly unacceptable," said Mr Shipley. "There can't be any justification for his behaviour. He recognises that they can't be together and that he needs to work on himself. He needs to recognise the impact of his offences."

Guffick had shown genuine remorse. He had been in a "turbulent and toxic" relationship but he had his own vulnerabilities. "He has not had a smooth road in life," said Mr Shipley.

"He does not have the emotional tool kit for a relationship. He can't deal with conflict. He can't deal with rejection. He recognises the need for change and that can only start with him.

"His period on remand has been a period of intense reflection. This has been his first taste of custody and his first taste of remand. It is a path of self-destruction that he has found himself on."

Guffick called an ambulance straight away. "It was a nasty wound," said Mr Shipley. Guffick did not use the cat tree tower as a weapon as such but he did throw it across the room. He had a deeply unattractive criminal record as a youth.

Judge Tahir Khan KC told Guffick: "It's going to be a sentence of immediate custody. You have a history of committing offences. Those past convictions inevitably aggravate the offences.

"The combination of all the offences sadly paints a very troubling picture. Immediate custody has to follow."

Guffick and the woman had been in a relationship for about three years. "Things did not go well," said Judge Khan. Guffick assaulted the woman, causing a nasty wound, which needed six stitches, but it was not deliberate.

"What you did was serious," said Judge Khan. "It was you who called an ambulance but the damage had already been done. The scars of the assault remain.

"Your behaviour towards her caused not just physical injuries but her mental health has deteriorated.

She has nightmares. Your behaviour towards her had a significant impact on her.

"Following on from that, there was a further incident not very long afterwards. There was an argument and there was an assault."

Guffick was involved in a "prolonged" incident in which he aimed multiple kicks at a female police officer, causing injuries. He later went to an address where he thought that his girlfriend might be and he made intimidating threats.

Guffick, who was already in custody on remand, was jailed for two years and four months. He was given a five-year restraining order.