A man who set fire to his partner’s hair in a Luton hotel was told by a judge that if he continues to behave liked that he will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Callum Robinson, 22, attacked the woman when a play-fight went wrong, Luton Crown Court heard on Tuesday, February 16, 2021.
Prosecutor Adam Williams said Robinson met the victim at the Luton Hotel on March 9, last year even though a restraining order banned him from contacting her because of earlier violence.
Two days into the stay, on March 11, the couple were play-fighting when Robinson overreacted and pinched her twice as hard as she had pinched him.
He threw a mug at her, striking her knee. When she picked up the TV remote to throw at him, he injured her leg by hurling a phone charger at her.
She asked him to stop, but he told her to shut up and punched her on the head and arms a number of times. He threw a chair at her and then picked up pineapple chunks which he threw at her, before emptying the juice from the can over her head.
When the victim left, he followed her downstairs, kicking her and setting fire to her hair, which was singed.
The woman went to her mother’s home and the police were called. Robinson was arrested and had been remanded in custody since 12 March last year – the equivalent of a 22 month jail sentence.
The judge was told the couple had begun a relationship in October 2019.
That month he had smashed up her new iPhone when she told him she was going to see her father. It cost her £529 to pay off the contract.
In November 2019, she said he put a pillow case over her neck and said he was going to strangle her – something Robinson denied.
When she said she was going to leave, he told her: “If you leave I will smash your windows and hurt your family,” said Mr Williams. Robinson ripped up her passport in December that year.
He apologised and gave her a hug. She had to pay £75.50 for a new one. The magistrates’ court made a restraining order banning him from contacting the victim after he had been convicted of battering her and criminal damage at another hotel in January last year.
He had put his hands around her neck, hit her and smashed her iPad. Robinson, of no fixed address, appeared for sentence from Bedford jail.
He had pleaded guilty to coercive and controlling behaviour, causing actual bodily harm and two charges of criminal damage. He also admitted being in breach of the restraining order. He had 13 convictions for 23 offences.
Michael Conning, defending, said his probation officer had found accommodation for Robinson, who has mental health difficulties. He could stay in approved premises in Wolverhampton where he will have a key worker.
Staff are on duty 24 hours a day and he will have to abide by a curfew and other conditions.
Judge Steven Evans told him: “You cannot continue to assault people – in particular partners with whom you have a relationship.
“If you continue to behave that way, you will spend your life in prison.” The judge sentenced him to a two year Community Order with a condition that he must live at the Wolverhampton address.
He warned Robinson: “You have a stark choice: If you do not abide by the rules, you will go to prison.” Robinson was also banned for five years from contacting the victim, directly or indirectly, or going to her parents’ addresses in Bedford and Luton.
