Kickboxer who battered girlfriend ’black and blue’ jailed for life
A "monster" who subjected his girlfriend to a series of vicious attacks that left her so badly bruised a paramedic could not tell what her race or ethnicity was has been jailed for life.
Kickboxer Dennis Ross, 33, beat Sian Davies, strangling her, hitting and punching her and using a cigarette to burn her, over the course of a weekend which ended with her in a coma and unable to tell her story to police for two months, Cardiff Crown Court heard.
Ms Davies, 32, who told officers she feels "lucky to be alive", suffered broken ribs, muscle damage, pneumonia, frostbite and severe swelling to her eyes, lips and throat, so that she was unable to speak or open her eyes, during the assault.
Michael Jones, prosecuting, said Ms Davies was found "barely conscious, struggling to breathe" with dried blood in her hair and naked from the waist down on a bed in Ross’s Newport flat on July 9.
Ross, who was on licence for inflicting grievous bodily harm on a previous partner at the time of the offence, pleaded guilty to attempted murder at an earlier hearing and will have to serve a minimum term of seven years and 104 days.
On Thursday, the court heard police were called to the home by Ross’s grandmother Patricia Ross.
Ms Ross had been picked up that morning by her grandson, who said he needed her to speak to his girlfriend.
When she arrived she saw Ms Davies’s injuries and managed to raise the alarm.
Ross, of Golden Mile View, Rogerstone, claimed in interview she had been attacked on a night out and he had stayed up all night caring for her, placing a freezer pack on her face which caused the frostbite and that he had "100% planned to take her to hospital".
Neighbours told police they heard thudding coming from Ross’s flat over the course of the weekend, with one saying the noise was "extremely loud" and sounded like an object being slammed to the ground.
Mr Jones said the prosecution case was that "that object was Sian Davies".
Ms Davies told police she remembered little of what happened but tried to escape his flat after a row about her mobile phone but he caught her and threw her back in the bathroom.
In her victim impact statement, she said the attack had left her "waking up through the night, flinching and shaking with fear".
"I never want anyone to experience what I have gone through and as much as I think Dennis is a monster for what he has done I am concerned that there will be reprisals for him in prison and still wouldn’t want him to suffer as I have," she said.
"I am fearful for my safety and that of my family if he is released from custody.
"I think I had a lucky escape and I am lucky to be alive from this incident.
"I thought that Dennis was kind, caring and thoughtful but how wrong I was ... He has left me feeling vulnerable and I long to be the old Sian once more."
Sentencing him, Judge Eleri Rees said: "You are a highly trained kickboxer, the use of your fists and feet would be the equivalent of using a weapon ... Ms Davies was literally battered black and blue.
"There were so many bruises to her entire body that a paramedic could not determine her race or ethnicity."
Speaking after the hearing, Millie Davies, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "We are determined to bring those that engage in domestic violence to justice."
Detective Constable Elaine Newbury said: "Ross put his victim through a sustained and prolonged attack which resulted in significant and serious physical injuries, whilst having a profound impact on the victim’s emotional well-being.
"He has shown no remorse for this.
"I hope this sends the message that domestic violence will not be tolerated; we take offences of this nature extremely seriously."
