by Lynda Roughley
A defenceless woman attacked by her partner suffered potentially life-threatening injuries similar to those caused in a car crash after suffering a ruptured spleen.
Daniel Dolan’s victim, who had previously been assaulted by him while pregnant six years ago, told him the pain was worse than childbirth but he refused her plea for an ambulance.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that the violence followed an argument after she found messages on his phone from another woman he had been seeing and with whom he had fathered a child.
Dolan, aged 34 of Egerton Grove, Poulton South, Warrington, a self-employed builder, snatched the phone from her and began punching her in the head before sitting down at the table.
“In anger at what he had done she tipped the plate of food which was on the table in front of him into his lap. At this the defendant jumped up and went for her, punching her violently to her back below her ribs but above her hip.
“She fell to the floor whereupon he put his foot on her back before pulling her head up by her hair and then pushing her face back down onto the floor. He bent down and shouted into her ear telling her not to be so dramatic and to get up.
“In fact she could not get up and crawled away, managing to get up the stairs feeling sick and faint,” said Arthur Gibson, prosecuting.
She called 111 herself and initially, she said she had fallen downstairs because she was in his hearing but when he left the room she told the operator that he had hit her and described her symptoms.
She was told an ambulance was being sent and Dolan told her to cancel it, saying he would take her later in the day.
At Warrington Hospital it was found she had sustained a rupture to her spleen which could be life-threatening and can require surgery. Fortunately, the injury was stable and with non-invasive treatment, it began to heal but she remained an in-patient for four days before being discharged on November 1 last year.
Mr Gibson told the court, “The ultimate prognosis is as yet unknown – if there is any long-term shrinkage to the spleen this could result in her being immune-compromised.”
The surgical registrar who treated her said that the injury to the spleen was most commonly seen in car accidents or bike accidents where the patient has hit their stomach on the handlebars.
“They can be caused by an assault but this is less common as it would require a significant amount of force like a rugby tackle,” she stated.
Dolan was arrested and when interviewed denied knowing how the victim sustained the injuries.
Dolan, pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm involving causing the injury by one punch.
Jailing Dolan for 40 months Judge Andrew Menary, KC, the Recorder of Liverpool, said, “You completely lost your temper, resulting in your violent attack on her.
“The blow must have been ferocious, because it resulted in the rupture of her spleen.”
He told Dolan, “It is unbelievable that any reasonable person would inflict that type of violence on a defenceless woman in her home, causing the sort of injury you did.
“You badly assaulted her, causing her very serious injury which could have been life-threatening.”
Judge Menary added that Dolan accepted that he now deeply regrets what he had done.
Sarah Badrawy, defending, said, “If he could change what he has done, he would.
“This incident was borne out of a bad situation created by him. He thought he had put that type of behaviour behind him.”
She said that the dad-of-three acknowledges the relationship was at an end and he wants to concentrate on his children.
“He has had time to reflect on his actions, he is deeply ashamed of what he has done,” she said.
