‘I was left battered and bruised’: Preston woman relives horror of violent attacks

Years of friendship turned into weeks of hell for a Preston woman after she finally began a relationship with a violent drug user, a court heard.

Within a fortnight her romance with Stuart Gabbott turned toxic and left her bruised and battered.

Gabbott, 32, came before the city’s Crown Court for sentence after pleading guilty to assaulting his former girlfriend twice, attempting to strangle her and damaging her home.

He was sent to jail for more than two years and was described by a judge as posing a “high risk” of serious harm to the friend-turned-lover who put him in the dock after weeks of abuse.

Gabbott, of Brackenbury Road, Preston, appeared before Recorder Harriet Johnson via a video link from Preston Prison where he is being kept in a segregation unit for his own safety after running up huge drug debts.

Prosecution barrister Keira Shaw told the court that the woman had known Gabbott for years, but the couple had begun a relationship in May this year.

“It became toxic and abusive very quickly,” said Ms Shaw. “After about two weeks he began to show signs of an abusive nature.” She said he called her names like “skank” and “bitch”.

At the start of June the woman was at her home with Gabbott and had argued earlier in the day. He punched her about three times to the head and then put both hands round her neck and squeezed, making it difficult for her to breathe for a few seconds.

He then dragged her to the floor by her hair, causing her to hit her face on the bed frame and open up a cut near her eye. When she was on the floor he spat in her face.

Eventually he stopped his attack and immediately became apologetic, promising he would never assault her again.

He refused to leave her house and told her: “If you grass me up it will be the last thing you do.”

Six weeks later she was at his address and another argument began in which Gabbott called her a “tramp” and other nasty names. She asked him to calm down but he continued.

She walked out of the house to go to the local newsagent shop and he began abusing her in the street. She walked away because she didn’t want to argue any more, but he grabbed her by the hair and yanked her back, causing her head to jerk backwards.

She also said he had thrown a glass vase in her living room during another row, causing damage to a wall.

When a doctor examined her at the Royal Preston Hospital after the first attack, she was found to have a cut to her left eye and bruising to her body.

Despite her ordeal the woman declined to give a victim personal statement to the court and said she did not want to apply for a restraining order banning Gabbott from making contact with her in the future.

The prosecution said Gabbott had a lengthy criminal record involving around 45 previous offences, some of them for violence. In September 2023 he had been sentenced to 30 months in prison for controlling and coercive behaviour against a previous partner.

Defence barrister Richard Flook said his client was aware that a prison sentence was inevitable for what he had done. He had, he said, a “very unhappy record” which had included “considerable domestic violence”.

“He apologises for these offences,” Mr Flook told the judge. “He is sorry for his actions.”

He said Gabbott had mental health issues which resulted in impulsiveness and difficulty managing his emotions and his anger. He had been self-medicating with alcohol and Class A drugs.

“He recognises he can’t control his anger but then realises what he has done and apologises.”

He explained that Gabbott was vulnerable in prison and was unable to be on a normal wing because he had drug debts and was in a segregation unit for his own safety.

The victim of his assaults was not asking for a restraining order because “she recognises the difficulties he faces”.

Recorder Johnson said the woman should have been able to feel safe in her own home and she described Gabbott spitting in her face as a “gratuitous act of degradation”.

She accepted he had had a “deeply troubled upbringing” and he had been exposed to “serious domestic abuse” as a child. But his ADHD and PTSD conditions “didn’t prevent you from knowing what you were doing or that it was wrong”.

She jailed him for a total of two years and three months and told him his offences had been so serious they justified immediate custody.