Lancashire thug jailed after assaulting ex-partner and threatening to burn her face with acid
A thug’s former girlfriend waved and smiled at him from the public gallery as a court was shown chilling videos of him threatening to “burn” her face with battery acid.
Barbershop owner Gulhassan Khan was jailed by a judge in Preston after he admitted assaulting his ex-partner on a filling station forecourt late at night, leaving her bloodied, bruised and terrified.
However, the woman turned up in court to show support for the 36-year-old, just three months after the vicious attack.
Father-of-five Khan pleaded guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm and dangerous driving on the garage forecourt, where he roared around in her Audi car, narrowly avoiding other vehicles as he tried to catch her.
He denied a third charge of kidnapping, which was withdrawn and allowed to lie on the file.
CCTV footage of the incident in March showed Khan viciously punching the woman as he tried to bundle her into the car.
She kept trying to escape his clutches, but each time, he caught up with her and manhandled her back into the vehicle.
When police caught up with him, they found four short clips on his mobile phone showing her petrified, blood-soaked face as he made threats to hurt her even more.
In one, he shouts at her: “Look at you, are you happy?” She cowers down, whimpering “No.” He then says: “You see what happens? Listen, you son of a bitch, are you happy?” Again, she whimpers “No.”
In another clip, the woman looks terrified as he screams: “What did I say I was going to do to you the other day? What did I say to you – battery acid, didn’t I?”
He then utters a chilling warning: “I was saying when I get out (of prison), I will burn you.”
The court heard he had made a previous threat to throw battery acid over her during a row.
The incident took place around 2am on the forecourt of the Springbank Service Station on Manchester Road, Nelson.
Khan had gotten out of the driver’s seat of the woman’s car and gone up to the night serving hatch to buy a bottle of vodka, but there were problems with the bank card he was using on two occasions.
He returned to the vehicle, where CCTV showed the woman sitting in the passenger seat. Moments later, a member of staff at the filling station heard shouting and screaming.
Camera footage showed the woman trying to run away, with Khan catching hold of her before punching her several times while she was on the floor.
After the assault, he dragged her back to the car and bundled her inside. She attempted to run away again, but he chased after her, causing another struggle.
The footage showed the woman trying to get help by banging on the window of a car at the petrol station, but the motorist drove off.
Khan then got into the Audi and was seen careering around the forecourt at high speed, narrowly avoiding other cars as he chased her.
One eyewitness later told police it seemed he was trying to run her down at one point.
Finally, she was dragged back to the vehicle, and Khan drove away. Police caught up with the car in the Regent Street area of the town.
The woman was found to have “significant” facial injuries, including a large gash across the bridge of her nose and two black eyes. She was said to be in a hysterical state and clearly intoxicated. When questioned by officers, Khan remained silent.
The court heard that Khan had 16 previous offences on his record, including assaulting an emergency worker and assault causing actual bodily harm.
He had served two previous prison sentences.
The prosecution described this latest assault as “prolonged and persistent,” leaving his ex-girlfriend in a distressed state.
The woman had opted not to co-operate with the prosecution and refused to make a witness impact statement, despite the severity of the attack.
Defence barrister Joseph Allman told the judge that Khan had “come to the very difficult but inevitable conclusion that this is a relationship that must come to an end – even his six-year-old daughter is imploring him to end this relationship.”
“He cannot trust himself to be in this relationship. This must be over.”
He added that cocaine and gambling were “two demons” Khan was fighting. After seeing the video clips, he said: “This is an extremely grim offence – deeply upsetting to watch.”
Recorder Ayisha Siddiqi said the CCTV footage showed Khan driving erratically and dangerously as he swerved around other traffic in pursuit of the woman. What happened was “chaotic,” she added.
The videos showed the woman terrified and in a state of distress.
She told Khan: “You then decided to video her in that state of distress. The filming of her was degrading her.”
“You said you would be out soon and you would burn her and throw battery acid in her face.”
“(But) there is no witness statement (from her). She doesn’t support what is happening in this court today – she doesn’t wish this to proceed today. But that doesn’t change the seriousness of what you did.”
In addition to a total of 27 months in prison for assault and dangerous driving, Khan was also banned from driving for just over two years and will need to pass an extended driving test before he is allowed behind the wheel again.