Northampton man who shot his girlfriend twice, broke her jaw and threw urine over her sent to jail

A Northampton man shot his girlfriend twice with a BB gun, punched her in the jaw leaving her requiring surgery and threw urine over her, a court has heard.

Despite the shocking series of assaults, Northampton Crown Court heard this morning (Thursday, January 21) that the girlfriend of abusive William Perry, 23, is keen to resume a relationship with him once he gets out of jail.

The court was told that Perry - who was living in a caravan behind a home in Brickwell Court, Northampton, had himself phoned 999 in March last year after breaking her jaw, telling the officers: "I meant to punch her but I didn't mean to break her jaw." The victim was left needing surgery and a titanium plate to fix the injury.

Friends had previously seen the victim with black eyes and bruising but she had consistently made excuses for the injuries.

One two occasions he shot her with a BB gun, once in the arm and once in the leg. In April last year he sent messages meant for the victim following the incident saying: "If I find out anything goes missing from my caravan I swear to God I will burn your dad's house down to the f******* ground. I swear to God. Try me on that one."

There was also a message sent threatening to blow up the house.

After he made his first appearance before the magistrates' court on those charges last year he was placed on remand in prison because of the risk of re-offending.

Before his trial had been due to take place, Perry admitted grievous bodily harm, two counts of actual bodily harm and one count of malicious communications. He had initially denied the offences, claiming that they were an 'accident' but eventually pleaded guilty to all counts.

In mitigation, his barrister Justin Hugheston-Roberts said that his client deserved credit for his guilty pleas and for making frank admissions about his crimes.

He said that he was engaging with mental health teams in prison. He said that the pair were infatuated with one another: "The complainant maintains contact with him and writes to him and wants to get back together with him," he said.

"There's nowt' so queer as folk, as they say. This is a couple that is terrible together and terrible apart.

"They both hope to reconcile but they're both now grown-up enough to say that when he's released he's going to continue with his efforts to better his lot, to become a more useful person in society."

The woman declined to give a statement to the police.

The court hear that Perry had six convictions for eleven previous offences including theft ,robbery, possession of a knife, motoring offences and several for actual bodily harm. He had served two previous jail sentences including one in a young offenders' institute.

Addressing Perry, Her Honour Judge Rebecca Crane said: "This appears to have been a toxic relationship. Friends saw a change in the victim from an outgoing person to someone shy, submissive and scared.

"You minimise and you don't fully understand the impact of your offences. The pre-sentence report says you still need to learn how to behave in society.

Perry was sentenced to four years in jail for the GBH offence, plus one year out on licence. He was given two 18 month sentences for the ABH offences, to run concurrently to the four year sentence, as well as a concurrent six month sentence for the malicious communication. He was ordered to serve two thirds of the sentence before being eligible for parole.

When time already served is taken into account, Perry may be released from prison within 32 months.

A BB Gun, and air rifle and magazines containing pellets were taken from the caravan by police and the court ordered them to be forfeited.

If you are suffering from domestic abuse, you can call Northamptonshire Domestic Abuse Service on 0300 0120 154.

You can call police on their non-urgent number 101 or on 999 in an emergency.

Friends of those who may be suffering from domestic abuse who are worried about them can call police or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

You can also report crime online to Northamptonshire Police here.