A violent thug subjected his partner to domestic violence then warned her “she would never be safe” if she told the police about the repeated abuse.
Ross Tappenden had only been out of prison for a matter of weeks before he began beating, punching and threatening his partner of three years.
The 41-year-old smashed his girlfriend’s head off of doors, told he her could “kill her if he wanted to”, and threatened to have her followed by his friends and family if she reported him to police.
He’s now back behind bars, having already served time for various domestic incidents, some of which involved the same woman.
Struck her head against doors
Fiscal depute Lucy Simpson told Aberdeen Sheriff Court Tappenden served a two-year sentence for various domestic incidents against the same woman but was released in April 2020 and the pair rekindled their relationship.
She said: “In May 2020, when they were staying in Turriff, he grabbed her by her head and repeatedly struck it against various doors in the property.
“He seized her by the throat with so much force she found it hard to breathe.”
She said after one argument in June Tappenden “jumped on top of her and punched her repeatedly on the head and body after she accused him of stealing her medication.”
“He would then leave the room before returning and repeating this behaviour and asking if she still wanted to accuse him of anything.”
He repeated this many times until the woman managed to run from the room between attacks and hide in the bathroom.
In August the victim said she didn’t want Tappenden in her home, leading him to grab her by the neck and repeatedly strike her head against a wall.
He pinned her to the floor and asked “do you want another one?”
“The complainer told him, she thought he was going to kill her,” the fiscal added. “To which he replied ‘I could if I wanted to’.”
The abuse came to a head later that month when a “minor disagreement” in bed saw him repeatedly punch the woman in the head and face.
‘You’ll never be safe’
The fiscal said: “She got hold of her phone and called police.
“He tried to grab it but she kept hold of it, and managed to get outside and call the police while he shouted and swore at her through the letterbox.
“He told her that if she had contacted the police it was going to get friends and family to film her and that she would never be safe”.
Police found her distressed and with a black eye.
Tappenden appeared in court via videolink from HMP Grampian where he’s been remanded since admitting the brutal behaviour in August.
His defence agent Stuart Murray said Tappenden had “anti or dis-social personality disorder” and suggested “his offending behaviour seems to lack any awareness of how any other party might respond to his threatening and abusive behaviour”.
Mr Murray added that the relationship was “chaotic and toxic”.
“Clearly what Mr Tappenden has done goes well beyond that,” he said, before adding: “there’s nothing I can say to mitigate that behaviour”.
Will remain behind bars
Sheriff Philip Mann told Tappenden: “The offending here is extremely bad and serious and it constituted a severe risk to the health and wellbeing of your partner.
“Even without your record and even without a very bad social work report I would call for a substantial term of imprisonment.”
Tappenden was handed a five-months sentence, backdated to August, and a five-year suspended sentence.
If you need help or advice about domestic violence, contact Grampian Women’s Aid on 01224 593381
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