VIOLENT BOYFRIEND 'THINKS LIKE CLASSICAL ABUSER' - JUDGE
A woman from West Cumbria was assaulted for a second time by her violent ex-boyfriend after he tracked her down to the Lake District, a court was told.Darren Merritt, 49, formerly of Burnmoor Avenue, Whitehaven, admitted two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Carlisle Crown Court heard that the abuse he inflicted both verbal and physical was often fuelled by alcohol, and his attempts to blame the victim reflected what the judge described as “the classical distorted thinking of an abuser.” Although additional charges relating to alleged strangulation and stalking were not pursued, Judge Nicholas Barker ruled that they should remain on file.
The prosecution detailed the nature of the offences.
The relationship began in March 2022, after Merritt and the woman met through their workplace.
By August 2023, they had moved into a shared flat in Whitehaven, but the relationship was already unstable.
The court heard that during the spring of that year, Merritt launched into a “drunken rage” and punched the woman twice in the face, leaving her with a black eye, bleeding nose, and a bruised ear.
“It was about three months after that she decided she’d had enough,” said the prosecutor.
She quietly left the relationship, travelling by bus to return to her parents’ home.
“But he didn’t leave it there,” the barrister added.
In November, while she was out walking her dog near her parents’ home in the Lake District, she received a warning call – Merritt had been seen near the property.
The following month, he reappeared as she boarded a bus in Ambleside.
“He reappeared in November at the café where she worked in Grasmere,” the court heard.
On New Year’s Day, he entered the café kitchen and told her: “You didn’t think I’d come back again,” before subjecting her to verbal abuse.
The second assault took place on 4 January as she walked home from work.
Merritt grabbed her from behind, pulling her to the ground.
He then threw her phone aside and seized her by the neck.
“You didn’t think I’d get you but I have,” he told her.
The attack ended only when a colleague passing by intervened.
The woman suffered grazes to her right elbow and knee.
Defence solicitor Jeff Smith said Merritt had experienced a troubled upbringing and became involved in what developed into a “volatile” relationship.
He said Merritt regretted his behaviour.
Addressing the incidents in the Lake District, Mr Smith suggested Merritt’s encounters with the woman may have been coincidental.
He added, “He anticipates on his release going to live with his sister in Scotland, putting two or three hundred miles between him and the injured party.” Judge Barker was not persuaded by the defence, stating that Merritt’s actions involved both verbal and physical abuse, including derogatory and sexualised language.
He rejected the claim that the meetings in the Lake District were by chance.
“There is very little mitigation,” said the judge.
“It’s hard to find that you are genuinely remorseful.” He noted Merritt had shown no sympathy for the victim and demonstrated a tendency to shift blame.
“In essence, [you believed] it was her who behaved in a way which caused you to behave in that way and so she was responsible.
This is the classical distorted thinking of an abuser.” Merritt, now of Atholl Place, Inverness, was sentenced to 14 months in prison.
A two-year restraining order was imposed, prohibiting any contact with the victim.
