Thug jailed after assault left ex with bleed on the brain

Kyle Brook became involved in an altercation with his former partner after she attempted to stop him from driving after drinking.

This was not the first time the 26-year-old was violent towards the woman, after squeezing her neck multiple times while he had her in a headlock in 2018.

He was also convicted of criminal damage after smashing a hotel room and causing it to be taken out of service.

Brook appeared for sentence at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday after being convicted by a jury of assault occasioning grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and criminal damage.

Fiona McNeill, prosecuting, explained how the ABH charge occurred on August 23, 2018, when he stayed at his then partner’s house while her parents were on holiday.

He wanted to go out drinking but she wanted to stay in due to being in work the next day. He went out with friends and returned in the early hours.

On entering the bedroom while drunk, he asked her to take her pyjamas off, to which she refused.

Brook began to argue with her about contact with her ex, before grabbing her from behind in a headlock, squeezing her neck numerous times and releasing it.

She struggled to breathe and was slapping his legs to tell him this. The defendant sent her messages the next day telling her not to tell anyone what had happened.

The criminal damage occurred at a hotel in the town centre on March 7, 2020, when he smashed a TV to the value of £371, a bathroom plug and door.

Later that night at around 4.50am, police found the defendant with the same victim, then his ex, in the car park of Egremont Court in Wilderspool, next to a white van with the door open and keys inside.

Officers noted that she was bleeding heavily from the ear. A hospital examination revealed she had suffered a bleed on the brain and a fractured skull, as well as a 2cm laceration to her head and a perforated eardrum. She was kept in hospital for six days.

In a statement to police, she said that she saw him after he was removed from a bar due to an incident which was not his fault, was concerned about him and wanted to make sure he got home safe.

Kyle Brook was jailed at Liverpool Crown Court

They had an argument over him wanting to drive and her stopping him. The court heard she hit him in the nose in an attempt to take the keys away, before he punched her to the ground.

In a victim statement, she revealed that she has had to go through 19 months of medical appointments due to the injuries she suffered and still suffers, including tinnitus and damage to her sense of smell.

Defending her client, Hayley Bennett said that the first incident arose out of jealousy of the victim’s ex-partner and immaturity, while the second was ‘not a cold-blooded, pre-meditated offence’.

“It was an inappropriate reaction and alcohol played a large part,” she added.

Ms Bennett said Brook is now a more mature person. He has a son and looks after her fiancée’s daughter as they live together as a family, and he his is supporting them emotionally and financially through his own plastering and building business.

She said that him going to prison will have a ‘devastating impact on innocent people’ around him, namely his family, his employee and his customers, as his business will have to close.

“I invite your honour to consider if, in this particular case, she can stop short of an immediate custodial sentence and instead impose a custodial sentence she feels is appropriate to suspend,” she added.

Before sentencing, judge Louise Brandon said: “I saw you give evidence during your trial where you tried to limit what you did or place blame on your victim.

“I want to make it clear to your victim that they did nothing wrong. The only person to blame for what you did is you.”

She continued: “The custody threshold has been crossed and a custodial sentence is inevitable. I have been urged to consider if it must be immediate or whether it can be suspended.

“In my judgement, when you lose control in intimate circumstances, you are dangerous.

“The offences are so serious that the only appropriate punishment is immediate custody.”

Brook, of Warrington Road in Glazebury, was sentenced to three years in prison.