People have slammed a "joke of a sentence" after a man broke his pregnant girlfriend's neck during one of two brutal attacks.
Darren Melling was jailed for 53 months and given a five-year restraining order at Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday, January 31. The 35-year-old, from Glover Street in St Helens, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm and assault occasioning actual bodily harm in the attacks on his then girlfriend.
The court heard how Melling twice battered his partner, the first of which persisted for more than half an hour and only ceased when she managed to flee to a pharmacy for safety. He then slammed his expectant girlfriend's head into a wall and bit at her ears during a second attack, in which a judge told him he had risked leaving her paralysed.
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The decision to sentence Melling to just over four years, has been called a "joke of a sentence." Commenting on the ECHO website, one reader said: "Should have been given 50 years lowlife."
Another added: "The sentence should be a lot longer." A third added: "53 months for nearly killing somebody, wow, joke, he [will] be out in 12 months."
Another said: "He will be on home leave in 12 months this should have been a seven to 10 tariff for this absolute monster." Melling and the victim first began their "on and off" relationship in 2021.
Simon Leong, prosecuting, described how an argument flared between the two at her home on the afternoon of April 20 2022. He said that the row led to Melling slapping his victim and grabbing her by her hair – causing clumps to be pulled out.
His assault, which included punching and kicking her to the head and biting, lasted for around 40 minutes. When Melling was interrupted by a phone call, the victim escaping and seeking refuge in a nearby chemists when he answered.
Melling then subjected her to another vicious attack in the early hours of July 8 last year, only weeks before he was due to stand trial over the first incident. He dragged her through the property and took hold of her throat.
She was left struggling to breathe, but the assault continued with Melling biting both of her ears and stamping on the back of her neck after she fell to the floor. The complainant was then punched and kicked to the body and legs and dragged around the living room before the ordeal finished with her having her head slammed into the wall.
She was later woken by a Virgin Media engineer who had been scheduled to install broadband at the apartment that day. The employee noticed her injuries and called an ambulance and waited with her until her parents arrived. The victim was subsequently found to have suffered a broken jaw and ribs and a fractured vertebra at the base of her neck.
Isabella Denn-White, defending, told the court that her client hoped to gain employment as a plasterer upon his release, and added: "He has accepted that he has drink and drug issues. He completely accepts his guilt and has asked me to detail his remorse, which he says haunts him to this day. He hopes one day to be a father figure in some capacity.
"He suffers from his own mental health difficulties, and he has made two attempts on his own life. He knows what he needs to do to move in the right direction."
Judge Swinnerton added: "You risked, by stamping on the back of the neck of someone who was prone, very serious injury including paralysis. You did nothing to help her, and she was helped eventually because someone from Virgin Media attended the house and could see the state she was in. You thoroughly broke her trust by the vicious assaults that you carried out."