Thug batters girlfriend and burns her with cigarettes while keeping her prisoner

A violent thug battered and tortured his girlfriend, including burning her with cigarettes, while keeping her prisoner in his home.

The 21-year-old victim had secretly snuck out of her home in her tiger print pyjamas and fur coat to visit Lewis Dunn after he had earlier smashed up her parents’ vehicles and front window of their home.

She turned up on February 22 this year and initially stayed there voluntarily but two days later, while high on a cocktail of cocaine and alcohol, he began his attack on her.

Liverpool Crown Court heard today (Tue) that she suffered a horrific catalogue of 23 injuries from head to toe. These included a double jaw fracture, broken knuckle and cigarette burns to her lips, her right temple and behind her left ear.

At one stage 27-year-old Dunn, who has previous convictions for domestic violence, even rang her dad on FaceTime “while torturing her as he wanted him to see”, said Peter Wilson, prosecuting.

He had threatened to cut her toes off if she left but she eventually managed to flee, still in her nightwear, and CCTV footage was played to the court showing her running down the street closely pursued by Dunn.

His barrister, Brendan Carville, told the judge: “You may find it astonishing but they are still in a relationship. She still has contact with him.”

He said that she had failed to support the prosecution and he suggested there did not need to be a restraining order.

But the judge, Recorder Andrew McLoughlin, imposed an indefinite restraining order to protect the young woman and ruled that Dunn is a dangerous offender.

He jailed him for six years eight months with an extended three years licence, meaning he will have to serve at least two thirds of the custodial term.

Recorder McLoughlin said that the defendant’s seven previous convictions included assaults in 2014 and 2017.

“Yet again you find yourself before this court and the offences to which you have pleaded guilty to amount to a serious escalation of your criminal offending behaviour in a domestic context.”

Dunn, of Clint Road, Edge Hill, had pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm, false imprisonment and criminal damage.

Mr Wilson told the court that the humiliating attack by Dunn included spitting at her, repeatedly punching her, cutting her with a knife, hitting her with a mobile phone and stabbing her in the shoulder with a screwdriver, though luckily her fur coat saved it from causing injury.

After she managed to escape she told how she could not wash blood off her face “because it was too painful to do so.” A 22 page report about her injuries including finding air surrounding her heart caused by blunt force injury.

Mr Wilson also said that after the earlier criminal damage incident at her parents’ home Dunn had threatened them, “I’ll get some smack heads to come up and burn your house down. I’ll stab you up.”

Mr Carville said that Dunn had pleaded guilty even though the victim would not attend court.

He pointed out that she had gone to his home voluntarily and he only committed the offences after “a cocktail of cocaine and alcohol.” He admitted to a probation officer that his behaviour had been “disgusting.”

Mr Carville added that the defendant is “deeply ashamed.”