A Belfast man who subjected his partner to a campaign of “appalling” and “disgusting” domestic abuse over a three-month period has been jailed.
As he imposed the sentence upon James Madden, Judge Gordon Kerr KC said the 40-year old made his then-partner’s life a “misery.”
Madden - who was deemed to be a dangerous offender by both the Probation Board and Judge Kerr - was handed an extended prison term of four years and seven months followed by two years on licence.
Belfast Crown Court heard that during the three-month period spanning from October 2021 to the beginning of January 2022, Madden subjected the injured party to assaults and acts of degradation in his Antrim Road flat.
This included urinating on her, throwing her out into the street naked and threatening her with a knife which he held to her throat.
The 18 offences admitted by Madden include wounding, multiple counts of common assault, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, false imprisonment and threats to damage property.
The court heard that after moving into Madden’s flat, the relationship quickly descended into violence.
The woman, who was 30 at the time, said she felt she was ‘walking on eggshells’ and could tell when Madden was about to attack her due to a “change in his face.”
She told police “once the door to his flat was locked, I got beat in the kitchen, beat in the living room, in the hall, in the bedroom.”
During the campaign of violence, Madden kicked and punched her all over her body, trailed her around his flat by her hair, spat in her face, choked her and urinated on her.
On one occasion Madden put a post on Facebook saying they had gone on a break - when in fact they had gone to his sisters in a bid to avoid anyone calling at his flat and seeing her visible injuries.
Following another attack, an injury to her eye was so bad that she thought she was blind.
Madden also threatened to burn her mother’s house, damaged her phone when she tried to call a friend and bit her on the arm which left teeth marks.
During the relationship, both police and the woman’s friends called at the flat to check on her welfare.
Judge Kerr said it was the Crown’s case that this was “one of those frequently encountered situations where the victim of domestic violence finds herself powerless to break free to from an offender, despite the harm that was doing to her.”
The Judge said the injured party suffered a “traumatic experience” during her relationship with Madden which exacerbated long-standing mental health issues.
Defence barrister Stephen Toal KC said his client was “ashamed of himself” and the way he behaved during the three-month relationship.
Mr Toal also said that due to Madden prior violence in other relationships, there was a “very real problem” which his client and the “abnormal behaviour” he has displayed.
The defence barrister revealed this could be traced back to Madden troubled childhood when he had “domestic violence perpetrated on him.”
The court also heard that at the time, Madden said he was using drugs to ‘try and stay awake’ and keep himself safe as he was under a death threat.
As he sentenced the father-of-six, Judge Kerr said: “The behaviour over a three month period is frankly appalling.
“The callousness, the determination to demean and to do his best to make the life of his partner a misery - including not only general acts of violence but disgusting behaviour ..all of those show a degree of appalling behaviour which is very hard to contemplate.”