Jail for Peterborough man who headbutted girlfriend in violent assault

A man who grabbed his girlfriend by the wrist and headbutted her has been jailed at court.

Police have pledged to all they can to tackle domestic abuse after Benjamin Diamond attacked his partner at their home in the city.

Cambridge Crown Court heard how Diamond, 22, had become argumentative towards his victim who was watching the TV at their home in Orton Brimbles, Peterborough, in March 2021.

When she got up to get a drink, Diamond became verbally abusive and headbutted her.

The victim fled to the bathroom and locked herself in, but he followed, asking to come in. After promising he wouldn’t lose his temper again, the victim allowed him in, and he said repeatedly, “what have I done?”.

Diamond helped to clean her up and said he didn’t want her to go to A&E, however, she did go for treatment but told medics she had fallen.

The abuse continued and, during a row, Diamond pushed her onto the bed and hit her on the arm.

As he went to leave, he grabbed her by the hair and dragged her to the floor and dug his thumbs into her eyes, pushing them into her head. He then put his hand over her mouth so she couldn’t talk, and didn’t leave.

Officers were alerted to the abuse when they discovered Diamond was back at the victim’s home, following the break-up of their relationship, which had ended after he assaulted her the year before.

At the time, they had been living in Yaxley, where Diamond had smeared fake tan into her face before putting both his hands around her throat, choking her. She came round to hear him apologising.

On Monday (October 16) at Cambridge Crown Court, he was sentenced to three years and two months in prison, having pleaded guilty to three counts of actual bodily harm (ABH) and engage in controlling/coercive behaviour. He was also handed a 10-year restraining order.

DC Lee Lombardo said: “Diamond’s behaviour was completely despicable. He is a violent man who subjected the victim to the most horrendous attacks.“We are doing all we can to tackle domestic abuse and bring perpetrators to justice. I would appeal to anyone in an abusive relationship to seek help and report it to police.”