A MAN grabbed his girlfriend by the hair and slammed her head into concrete as neighbours watched, a court heard.

A witness heard the woman screaming “I can’t breathe” before going quiet and heard her partner, Gareth Mills, say “wakey wakey”.

Prosecuting, Roderick Blaine, told Bournemouth Crown Court that late in the evening on February 7, 2024 police received several calls about an altercation between a man and woman, with one call coming from the victim herself. 

She was heard shouting: “Go away, do not touch me again, leave me alone, you have broken my nose.”

A neighbour in Sturminster Newton said they saw a female on the floor, with Mills on top and straddling her, before lifting her by her hair and slamming her head down.

They saw the woman get up but was thrown back down by the defendant, while she shouted “please stop”.

The court heard that Mills said: “I don’t give a f*** about being banged up.

“Not a big girl now.

“I hope you die you crack wh***.”

It was said a bystander also attempted to stop Mills before he ran away and disappeared.

Mills was on court bail at the time of the incident for fracturing a man’s skull along with co-defendants, Phillip Torrance and Stuart McInally.

Left to right: Phillip Torrance, Stuart McInally and Gareth Mills (Image: Dorset Police)

Mr Blaine said in the early hours of August 8, 2021, a man was seen drunk in Morrisons car park, Blandford, after being kicked out of a pub.

He was seen to speak to Gareth Mills before the man said: “You want to start then?”

A witness got in between the pair to try to prevent a fight however, Mills reportedly stepped around her and punched the man, making him fall to the ground.

While on the floor, Mills, Torrance and McInally were seen to kick him in the head, side, legs and ribs.

A witness said one of the men also stamped on his head.

The defendants ran off and the man was taken to hospital where he was found to have a fractured skull.

All three men pleaded guilty to assault occasioning grievous bodily harm, with Mills also pleading guilty to causing actual bodily harm to his partner.

Mitigating for Mills, Ruba Huleihel, said the defendant has Jacobs syndrome which causes moderate to severe intellectual disability, as well as fibromyalgia.

She said Mills experienced extreme physical abuse as a child and has “terrible coping mechanisms”.

Mitigating for Torrance, Francesca De Costa, said he has been bullied all his life and suffered domestic abuse as a child, which he has acted out in later life.

She said the defendant has abused substances since he was nine years old but has been working on his addiction in prison.

Mitigating for McInally, Rose Burns, said he is “seriously unwell” both mentally and physically, and has suffered from drug misuse.

Judge Robert Pawson awarded the witness of the group assault £350.

Torrance, 42 and of Gillingham, and McInally, 53 and of Blandford St Mary, were jailed for two and a half years.

Mills, 38 and of Sturminster Newton, was jailed for four years.