A thug who viciously beat his ex-partner days after she dumped him and used a frozen pizza as a weapon during the terrifying ordeal has been jailed.
Timothy Nylan, from Fleetwood, walked into her bedroom at 3am as she was asleep and snatched the phone out of her hand before ‘kneeling on her legs to restrict her movement’.
He then grabbed her hair, punched her to the face and headbutted her three times before threatening to ‘put duct tape on your mouth, tie you up and kill you’ if she didn’t stay in the room and ‘stop screaming’.
He then told her: “If the 5-0 knock on, as soon as I hear that door I’m going to kill you, I will tie you up and slit your throat from here to here.”
Nylan, 39, was branded ‘a coward’ by a Crown Court judge as she sentenced him to just over 18 months in prison.
Minshull Street Crown Court heard how Nylan was dumped by his ex a few days before the incident, on August 27, the M.E.N reports.
“They remained in text contact until after 2.30 am on the Friday morning,” prosecutor Josh Bowker said.
“By 3am, [the victim] was asleep in bed, but was awoken by a noise on the landing and the bedroom door opening. The defendant walked into the bedroom and said “oh did I wake you?”
“He walked towards the side of the bed, before leaning over her and snatching her phone out of her hand, and kneeling on her legs to restrict her movement.”
When she tried to sit up, Nylan ‘grabbed her by the hair and punched her to the face’, Mr Bowker added.
He continued: “The defendant then struck [the woman] with the mobile phone underneath her right eye, and headbutted her three times.”
When the victim tried to escape, Nylan told her he would ‘put duct tape on your mouth, tie you up and kill you’ if she didn’t stay in the room and ‘stop screaming’.
After locking the pair in the bathroom, Nylan continued his tirade of violence by dragging his victim by the arm downstairs to the kitchen.
“He took a frozen pizza from the fridge, and put it under her eye and asked her to tell him the truth,” Mr Bowker continued. “She said that she was, and the defendant’s response was to push the pizza harder into her face, and say “I know the truth so just tell me, you’re just a s*** like the rest of them.
“As he pushed the pizza harder into her, she said “ow,” and the defendant told her to stop saying that.”
Fortunately, the woman — who had activated the emergency SOS feature on her phone at this point — was able to squeeze past Nylan.
He then gave a chilling warning to her.
“If the 5-0 knock on, as soon as I hear that door I’m going to kill you, I will tie you up and slit your throat from here to here,” was the message the court heard, before officers did arrive and arrest him.
Nylan, of Kingfisher Way, Fleetwood, appeared before Recorder Tania Griffiths QC at Minshull Street Crown Court last week (January 12).
He was represented by Kay Driver, who said in mitigation her client had suffered ‘life changing injuries’ after a car crash, leaving him anxiety and depression.
She also said that his drinking had increased as a result of those mental health troubles, but accepted it was not an excuse for her client’s behaviour.
Nylan also had a history of violent offending, she accepted.
Sentencing Nylan to 573 days — or just over 18 months in prison — Miss Griffiths QC branded him a ‘coward’.
She said: “This was a prolonged assault of significant planning and pre-meditation, given that you knew what you were going to do and she was vulnerable.
“Fortunately the physical injuries were not serious but her victim personal statement showed that this went on far beyond the physical.
“Your impact on women is very, very significant and you seem completely unable to control yourself. You are a coward, Mr Nylan.
“The court has got your number. The next time you are back, the sentence will get longer and longer.
“Curb your temper in your own interest, and everyone else’s.”
Nylan admitted causing actual bodily harm and making threats to kill.
He is subject to a restraining order, and must pay a victim surcharge.
