Man jailed for pelting girlfriend with dog excrement and hitting her with spade

A man struck his girlfriend in the head with a spade while she fed her son breakfast and then pelted her with bags of dog excrement, a court has been told. The court was also told that in a second attack just hours later, he attempted to smother her with a pillow and only stopped when her pet leapt to her defence.

Jake Shaw was jailed for 10 months for the brutal assaults, during which he wielded a knife and threatened to kill himself.

Shaw, 30, and Kirsty Burrows had been in an "on-off relationship" for around eight years after meeting via a dating website, Liverpool Crown Court heard.

Prosecuting, Eve Salter, said the couple had argued about their puppies on the evening of February 20 last year and as a result she slept in her son's room that night, fearful of "what the defendant may do".

The next day, she was giving the child his breakfast in the dining room of her home on Orrell Street in St Helens when Shaw suddenly hit her over the head with the spade.

As she attempted to "shield herself", Shaw hit her on the arms and legs. She then tried to leave to take her children to school, but he refused to give her her car keys until she picked up bags of dog mess in front of the driveway.

As she did so, he then "proceeded to throw the bags of faeces at her".

As a result of the first attack, Ms Burrows was left with swelling to the back of her head as well as bruising to her arms and legs.

At 9pm the same day, when she was upstairs in bed, Shaw he knocked at the front door, visibly intoxicated, and asked if he could stay the night, which she agreed to on the condition he slept on the sofa.

However, about 20 minutes later, he entered her bedroom and subjected her to a second assault during which he sat on her legs "so she could not move" before hitting her twice to the chest and once to her left side, causing bruising.

He then punched her in the back of the head before sitting on her again and suffocating her by placing a pillow over her face.

He then similarly placed both of his hands over Ms Burrows' face, leaving her "unable to breathe" at which point she punched him and managed to break free, and he said: "I'm going to get you done for assault."

When Ms Burrows tried to leave for her mum's house, he grabbed her son's school uniform "in an attempt to stop them" before picking up a "combat knife" and saying: "If you leave me, I'm going to kill myself".

He grabbed Ms Burrows once more, sparking her dog to "launch" itself at him in a bid to protect her and as a result made contact with his girlfriend, causing a cut and bruising.

Shaw then grabbed the pet by the throat, pushing her to the floor and stamping on her neck, with Ms Burrows managing to escape while Shaw was fighting with the dog.

In a statement read out to the court on her behalf, Ms Burrows said she had since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and suffers from panic attacks and nightmares.

She stated that she has been left "feeling worthless", adding: "I feel like my life is rubbish at the moment.

"I don’t feel like me. I feel like what happened to me is never going to leave me."

Shaw has five previous convictions for eight offences, including being jailed for 18 weeks in 2019 for battery against Ms Burrows.

His defence counsel said he denied having used the spade during his attack, but "accepts his actions were not acceptable and takes responsibility for those actions".

He has since moved away from the area and "sustained from taking any alcohol whatsoever". He also suffers from rheumatoid arthritis.

Shaw - now of Bankfield Court in Mirfield, West Yorkshire - admitted two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

He was sent to prison for 10 months and also given a five-year restraining order preventing him from contacting Ms Burrows.

Sentencing, Recorder Eric Lamb said: "Offences of domestic violence involve a breach of the trust of an intimate relationship. I have concluded that appropriate punishment can only be achieved by an immediate term of custody.