2016: GARETH DAWSON JAILED FOR ATTACKING PARTNER ON A BUS
A DUDLEY man who grabbed his partner by the throat before headbutting her in the face as they made their way home on a bus has been jailed.Gareth Dawson had rekindled his relationship with the woman after sending her a number of threatening letters from prison saying he would scar her for life after hearing she was going out with another man.
They got back together when he was released, although she made him sleep in a tent at the bottom of her garden to avoid getting into trouble with Dudley Council and the Department of Work and Pensions.
The woman was attacked by Dawson after they began to argue on the bus as they made their way back to Dudley after a day out together at Walsall Arboretum.
Judge Amjad Nawaz told 30-year-old Dawson the letters he had sent to the woman had been "nasty" and while they were on the bus he had used his head as a "weapon." He said Dawson then left her with a bleeding nose when he struck her in the face with his head as he ruled the offence - coupled with his "terrible" criminal record - meant he had to go straight into custody.
Dawson, now of no fixed address - who has 37 previous offences on his record - admitted assault causing actual bodily harm and also sending a threatening message.
Oliver Grimwood, defending, told Wolverhampton Crown Court the woman had told him she was seeing someone else while he was in prison and that had made him extremely angry.
He had also been using cannabis but on his release the couple got back together and the assault came after they had both been drinking.
"They had an argument and things escalated," said Mr Grimwood.
"It was a toxic on-off relationship but now he wants no further contact with her.
He wants to put all this behind him." The judge jailed Dawson for 20 months and made him the subject of a five year restraining order forbidding him from having any contact with his former partner.
