Abuser told partner to hide black eye with make up

A "toxic" domestic abuser who told his girlfriend to wear make up so he did not have to see the black eye he inflicted has been jailed for three years and four months.

Kristofer Mawhinney, 32, subjected his partner to months of verbal and physical abuse and control, before bombarding her with messages and calls after she broke up with him, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

The woman said she lied about the injuries he caused her as she was frightened of him and had become a shadow of her former self.

Mawhinney admitted assault, controlling behaviour and intentional strangulation, having previously been jailed for harassing the woman.

Mawhinney, of Crofthead Close in Blyth, Northumberland, and the woman were in a relationship for about three years before she ended things in July 2024, prosecutor Daisy Wrigley said.

The pair were initially "happy" but about six months in his behaviour changed and he became "excessively jealous", the court heard.

Mawhinney regularly threatened his victim and constantly sent her messages demanding where she was and who with to the point where she stopped going out, Ms Wrigley said.

His attacks included strangling her in a hotel room in Newcastle after a night out, the court heard, but she did not support a prosecution as she was "frightened" of what he would do.

She broke up with him in April 2024 but awoke one night to find him standing over her bed, Mawhinney having asked a neighbour for a key, the court heard.

In June she decided to give him another chance but did not tell her family, Ms Wrigley said.

On 7 July he attacked her at his home, grabbing her by the hair and ramming her head so hard it caused a hole in a wall, the court heard.

He also slapped and punched her leaving her with a black eye and swollen eyeball, Ms Wrigley said.

The following day Mawhinney apologised and urged the woman to stay at his house so her family would not see the injury, the court heard.

He also told her to "please put make up on" so he did not have to face the consequences of what he had done, Ms Wrigley said.

Fearing there may be a deeper injury, the woman went to hospital where Mawhinney joined her, the court heard.

His "first concern" was what she had told medical staff about how the injury was caused, Ms Wrigley said, with the victim lying to them to hide what he had done.

On 10 July she went to police and reported what happened, the court heard.

The following day Mawhinney bombarded her with 64 phone calls and text messages in which he said it was "absolute madness" and he was "going to get locked up for [her] little lies".

After being charged with the offences and initially entering not guilty pleas, he went on to commit a harassment offence against the woman for which he was jailed by magistrates for 12 weeks in January, the court heard.

Recorder Jonathan Sandiford KC said Mawhinney's behaviour followed the "normal pattern" and was a "classic example" of domestic abuse.

It started with "love bombing" before becoming a "toxic cycle" of abuse that the woman said sucked the life out of her and left her a "walking shadow of herself", the judge said.

A restraining order banning him from contacting her for nine years was also made.

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