‘Predatory’ thug bit ex partner's head after trying to break into her Wakefield home in the dead of night

Damian Flanagan, who has a lengthy record for violence, was banned from going near the woman by a restraining order imposed in 2015, but turned up at her Ossett home near Wakefield just after 3am on August 25 last year.

The woman had been asleep but was woken by a drunken Flanagan knocking on her living-room window and shouting her name. Panicked, she rang the police.She saw him picking up slabs of concrete and attempted to smash the window.

He also tried to climb a drainpipe to get into an upstairs window. She eventually tried to flee the building but he grabbed her, scratched at her face and was “ripping at her mouth”, prosecutor Jessica Heggie told Leeds Crown Court. He then began biting the side of her head.

Screaming at him the stop, he asked: “Who is in the house?”. Flanagan then dragged her towards the house while throwing punches towards her. She later told police she could smell the alcohol on his breath but because he was drunk, he failed to land any blows.

The police turned up but Flanagan fled, while the woman locked herself in the house and hid under a pile of laundry. After officers failed to locate him, he later returned to the property and began shouting through the letterbox that he wanted a hug before he “went back to jail”.

When she failed to respond, the 32-year-old turned aggressive again, threatening to kill her. He was eventually arrested but gave no comments during his interview.

The court heard that Flanagan, of no fixed address, has 42 convictions for 80 offences, including multiple battery offences, along with assaults, ABH and GBH. He also had multiple breaches of the restraining order.

Appearing in court via video link from HMP Leeds, where he has been held on remand, he admitted ABH and breach of the restraining order for his latest offending. He had changed his pleas to guilty on the day of his trial.

Mitigating, Leila Taleb told the court: “Through me he wishes to express his remorse and is sorry for his actions. When faced with the prospect of his trial he held his hands up.”

She said the death of his father had triggered his behaviour, but did not excuse him. Since being held on remand, he has attended alcohol awareness sessions, adding: “It's clear that alcohol is underlying factor in his offending generally. He tells me he is motivated.”

Judge Tom Bayliss KC told him: “You have a history for violence and domestic abuse. It must have been terrifying (for the victim). You are a manipulative and predatory man with little or no concern about the way you behave.”

He handed Flanagan an extended sentence of 55 months in total, made up of 43 months’ jail and an additional 12 months licence period. He will be forced to serve at least two-thirds of the jail period before being considered for parole.