Jail for Scarborough man Liam Taylor, who has a 'track record' of violence against women, the judge said

Liam Taylor, 30, was on a restraining order to protect the victim when he grabbed her by the throat and punched her in the face as she tried to leave his flat in Scarborough.

The named victim, who suffered a swollen lip, sent an emergency message to police who found her in an “extremely teary, visibly upset and distressed” state, prosecutor Matthew Collins told York Crown Court.

They arrested Taylor in his room where they found some herbal cannabis, added Mr Collins.

Taylor, of Trafalgar Square, refused to answer police questions and was released on bail following the incident on April 16.

But two months later, on June 23, patrol officers spotted him carrying a large box of razor blades with a security tag on. He was arrested again on suspicion of theft and handling stolen goods.

Further enquiries with the local Wilko’s store revealed that the razors, worth £46, had been stolen from there.

Taylor ultimately admitted handling stolen goods, breaching a restraining order and possessing Class B drugs. He appeared for sentence on Wednesday.

Mr Collins said the original restraining order - imposed by Scarborough magistrates in December 2016 following a previous attack on the victim - had been breached twice by the defendant. On the last occasion, a judge extended the order from 24 months to 10 years.

During a long criminal career, he had a total of three breaches of restraining orders to his name – the other infringement being against another woman.

“The concerning feature is that all the breaches involved violence,” added Mr Collins.

Taylor had 26 previous convictions for 31 offences including theft, wounding and multiple breaches of court orders.

Stephen Munro, for Taylor, said his client had been drinking heavily at the time of the attack in Scarborough and had mental-health problems.

He said that Taylor, who worked as a gas engineer at holiday parks, had got his job back after being laid off temporarily in March and was trying to “build a new life”.

But judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, said Taylor had a track record for violence against women and “you are back again (in court for the same thing)”.

Jailing Taylor for seven months, he told him: “You took your fist to a woman. It always means there is something wrong with a man.”

The judge ordered that the restraining order should remain in place.