Jealous coward beat girlfriend and checked her naked body for ‘signs of other men’ in horrific campaign of abuse

A controlling and abusive thug beat his girlfriend and checked her naked body for 'signs of other men' in a horrific campaign of abuse.

Paul Thorburn, 38, was found guilty of section 47 assault and controlling and coercive behaviour at a trial after his victim bravely reported him to the police.

After officers conducted initial enquiries, it was established that the victim had been involved in an abusive domestic relationship with Thorburn who, during the course of their year-long relationship, subjected her to physical, mental, and emotional abuse between November 2020 and November 2021.

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On one occasion, after Thorburn had been drinking and his partner had been given a lift home from work, he began to check her naked body to see if she had been intimate with someone else. This is something he went on to do on many other occasions.

On another occasion, he woke his partner up in the middle of the night to argue about a previous ex. The court heard he became increasingly violent towards her and gripped her by the throat. He covered her mouth and nose throughout the assault so she couldn’t scream or breathe.

The victim desperately attempted to flee the apartment, but he grabbed her and pulled her back, causing her to hit her head on the stairs.

She eventually escaped, wearing just her underwear and a coat and sought the aid of a neighbour, who phoned the police. The court heard how the injuries she received from this assault left a footprint on her back.

In an attempt to capture the victim’s distress and to humiliate her at a later date, Thorburn then videoed parts of this incident on his mobile phone where he was seen deliberately goading and mocking