The thug ripped open his girlfriend’s eye in a brutal attack as young children watched in horror

A Leicestershire man beat his girlfriend in a brutal attack in front of her young children during a family holiday. Luke Finlayson, 37, fractured the woman’s eye socket, pulled out clumps of her hair and dragged her to the floor during the attack.

She ran from her home in Portreath, Cornwall, called the police and was admitted to hospital as a result. Finlayson, of Swift Way in Lutterworth, appeared at Truro Crown Court for sentence on Thursday (July 4) after pleading guilty to one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The court heard how he launched the attack on his victim in front of her two young children as they told them how scared they were, CornwallLive reports. Finlayson was spared jail after his girlfriend pleaded with the court to release him so they could be reunited.

READ MORE First photo of police dog who died in response to Watermead Park incident

The court heard Finlayson spent the afternoon in the pub before returning on holiday, muttering and throwing a bottle at the victim and her two sons. After assaulting his partner, he later punched and kicked their dog before grabbing a knife and cutting off his arm.

Investigating the case, Ramsay Quaife described the woman’s injuries as “horrific”. He said she had swelling on her forehead and right eye socket, scratches on her neck, swelling and bruising on her right arm and a CT scan of her head showed a collection of blood in her right eye socket and a bone fracture. There were also injuries to the membrane of her eye.

“(The victim) went upstairs and told the children to pack and that’s when this defendant grabbed her from behind and pulled her back,” Mr Quaife said. “(She) managed to get into the bedroom, the defendant followed her and then punched her in the head and then headbutted her. (She) escaped to put the children in the car and tried to stop the defendant from driving away and by now (she) realized that her eye was slit and the children were screaming that they were scared.”

The court heard the woman then returned to the house, at which point Finlayson attacked her again, pulling her hair and dragging her to the floor. He pulled pieces of her hair and hit her all over her body as she lay on the floor. He then lifted her head and smashed her against a dresser and grabbed her by the neck, at which point the victim said she “got away”, the court heard.

Defense barrister Ed Bailey said that when he was shown the injuries suffered by his partner of four years, Finlayson was “absolutely horrified” and said he “went out” and became violent. Mr Bailey said his client accepted full responsibility for both the physical harm caused to his victim and the emotional harm caused to her children. “He is totally appalled by his own behavior and has expressed a genuine sense of shame about what happened,” Mr Bailey said.

He added that it was “absolutely not impossible to get around that” and that Finlayson had been prepared for custody. “He recognizes that he must never drink alcohol again and as such has taken positive action while in custody,” Mr Bailey added, saying he felt there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation for the defendant.

A reference provided for Finlayson described the attack as “uncharacteristic” and “out of the blue”, despite having a previous offense and a restraining order against a former partner. The court also heard that he pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

The victim also described in an impact statement that Finlayson had a “decent and loving side to him” and said he had been a good father figure to her children and she wanted them all to put the incident behind them and move on Further.

Judge Simon Carr said he had seen similar cases where victims ended up back in hospital or even dead, but gave Finlayson a suspended sentence. In his sentencing remarks, the judge told Finlayson: “You had a lot to drink on holiday and don’t remember much of the events of that evening. You subjected your partner to an absolutely brutal attack and that in itself would be terrifying. enough but you did it in the presence of two nine year olds.

“The attack lasted 15 minutes, during which you kicked, punched, headbutted and pulled your partner’s hair with such force that a lot of his hair came out. You fractured his eye socket. The photos are truly horrific. “

The judge said that despite this, the victim had made an articulate case to return him to her family unit. “As wrong as I might think she would be … she is right to say that she is a very competent human being, capable of making her own decisions, even bad decisions if she wants to,” Judge Carr said.

Finlayson was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for two years. He was also ordered to live and sleep elsewhere for his victim, although he will be allowed to visit as he sees fit. “My opinion is that you should never live under that roof again,” he said.