Man jailed for attacking his former partner at her Rugby home with a knife and an iron

A drunken man attacked his former partner at her Rugby home, cutting the top of her head with a kitchen knife and throwing an iron at her.

And a judge at Warwick Crown Court said there was ‘precious little mitigation’ after hearing that Pawel Ptaszynski had a previous conviction for assaulting the same victim.

Ptaszynski (39) of no fixed address, was jailed for 28 months after pleading guilty to assaulting his former partner, causing her actual bodily harm.

Prosecutor Jacinta Stringer said that in July Ptaszynski went to his victim's home in Rugby.

He became argumentative and abusive, shouting at her and threatening to kill her.

“He picked up a knife from the draining board and hit her on the top of the head twice," said Miss Stringer.

“She thought it was with the handle, but given the nature of the injuries, which caused considerable bleeding, the Crown say the blade must have made contact with her head.

“Blood started to run down her face, and she went to the bathroom to try to clean it up.

“He followed her and picked her up and put her in the bath and began to use the shower to rinse the blood off her head. She was expecting a friend to visit, and the defendant was seeking to clean her up before her friend arrived.”

When her friend turned up, she saw the injury and heard Ptaszynski making further threats.

After going to a nearby shop, Ptaszynski's victim found him in the kitchen making a sandwich, and when she asked him to leave, he refused, complaining that she had made him homeless.

He picked up an iron and threw it towards her, hitting her on the head and narrowly missing her son.

She called the police, and when officers arrived 30 minutes later Ptasynski, who had been given a suspended sentence last year for battery of her, was arrested.

He claimed she had been provoking him into an argument, and that when he was cutting bread in the kitchen he had waved the knife towards her – and he claimed she had moved towards him and her head had been cut by accident.

Simon Hunka, defending, submitted: “The complainant was clear in saying it was the handle that was used, but it was still a weapon of danger.

“Mr Ptaszynski is in a difficult position. The conclusion of the pre-sentence report is that he is of concern in a domestic context.

“There is no excuse for what he did, and he doesn’t offer one. It would appear there was something about this relationship which had the potential to bring out the worst in him.”

Jailing Ptaszynski, Judge Barry Berlin told him: “While under the influence of alcohol, you struck your former girlfriend with a knife twice to the top of her head, cutting her head.

“I am told by the Crown that there was a considerable laceration and bleeding as the blade cut her head.

“Some time thereafter, when it seemed things were getting better, you threw an iron at her, hitting her to the head and narrowly missing her son.

“This was, on anybody’s account, an extremely serious example of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in a domestic setting, and with you having a previous conviction for violence against the same victim.

“This constitutes an escalation in your offending. There is precious little mitigation that can be offered.”

And Judge Berlin also imposed a restraining order banning Ptaszynski from having any contact with his former partner for ten years.