A woman who told her mum she "had a bad feeling" about a holiday to Tenerife with her boyfriend was proved right when he bit her in a nightclub and then repeatedly punched and kicked her on the way back to their hotel. Owen Dodd, 23, of Morris Avenue in Warrington, was jailed for 680 days at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday after admitting assault occasioning actual bodily harm and criminal damage.
The court heard that Dodd and Letitia Horne, 22, had known each other through mutual friends before forming a relationship in December 2024, when he phoned her while on holiday in Egypt and asked her to be his girlfriend. She collected him from the airport on his return, at which point he "brought his suitcase to her flat and moved in without any prior discussion".
Holiday violence and threats
Tom Challinor, prosecuting, described how the "relationship soon became strained" after Dodd lost his job and "made little or no effort to get another", instead "spending most of his time playing computer games". This led to "growing resentment" before they went on holiday to Mexico with his parents in February 2025, where they "drank heavily throughout that holiday", leading to "several arguments and incidents".
After their return, Dodd's grandad warned him to "stop drinking and mistreating people", but the defendant later borrowed money from this same relative to join other family members on a "drinking holiday" to Tenerife. Ms Horne accompanied him, but had told her mum beforehand that she "had a bad feeling about the trip, given how things had gone in Mexico".
During their first day, they visited several pubs and bars, with both having drunk alcohol and taken cocaine and ecstasy before he bit her on the cheek in a nightclub "without warning". The group left because Ms Horne was "very upset", and when one of Dodd's cousins challenged him, he smashed a bottle and threatened to stab his relatives, only putting it down when his girlfriend agreed to return to the hotel with him.
Attack continues at hotel
On the way back, Dodd "lost his temper again", screaming in Ms Horne's face and punching her two to three times, causing her to fall and hit the back of her head on the kerb. He then kicked her to the head a further two to three times as she tried to get up. The assault only stopped when another group of men intervened and began attacking him, with Ms Horne "begging them to stop".
Back at the hotel room, he pushed her into a mirror, smashing it, while blaming her for the attack he had suffered, during which he had lost his mobile phone and watch. The next morning, after "sobering up and seeing what he had done", Dodd cried and bought her sunglasses to hide her black eyes. Ms Horne had suffered blurred vision, bruising and scratches to her face, a split lip and a lump to the back of her head.
Ms Horne "made up a story and say she'd been robbed" during a FaceTime call to relatives, saying her bag had been stolen during an assault. After returning to the UK, Dodd was "contrite and promised not to touch her again", saying he would "get a job and seek help", but he continued to drink and take drugs before his "temper exploded" during a further incident at his grandparents' home on April 3.
Threats and sentencing
Ms Horne drove him home, but he attempted to grab the steering wheel and crash into parked cars before punching the windscreen, cracking the glass in two places. She ordered him out and drove off, which was their "last face to face contact". Dodd continued to contact her via phone and social media, telling her she "might as well contact the police, otherwise he'd stalk her and never leave her alone". She reported his actions after being encouraged by both his and her parents.
Ms Horne was forced to take five months off work after being diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder. Mr Challinor added: "She says that the emotional and psychological damage, she fears, will stay with her forever. She struggles with anxiety and fear, has constant thoughts of it and constant flashbacks. Such was the stress and trauma she experienced that she started to lose her hair and also lost a lot of weight."
Philip Astbury, defending, told the court: "It is a particular unpleasant offence. It took place at a time when the complainant no doubt felt vulnerable and isolated abroad." He noted the pre-sentence report was "very warts and all", critical of Dodd's attitude and lack of insight, but said alcohol and substance misuse were "an obvious feature" and that he had never had support in that regard. He added that Dodd had issues with relationships and his temper, and had been medicated in the past for anxiety and depression.
Sentencing, Recorder Tania Griffiths KC said: "This occurred only a few months after the start of the relationship. Problems in the relationship began very shortly afterwards. Your behaviour was, almost immediately, seriously predatory and controlling." She described how he bit her, broke a bottle and threatened to stab a family member, then punched and kicked her, and pushed her head into a mirror.
The judge added: "The next day, when you saw what you had done, you cried and were full of remorse, as many bullies are. She doubts that she will ever recover her sense of self and confidence. Fortunately, you both seem to have sensible and supportive families, who encouraged the end of the relationship. When she did break off the relationship, you threatened to stalk her."
Recorder Griffiths noted the potential for rehabilitation but said: "It does not appear to me that you have taken any great steps to rehabilitate yourself. I appreciate that you were going through a difficult time. That does not mean you can take it out on any other partner you have." She concluded: "I have formed the very definite view that you are a controlling bully. Sometimes, the only language that a bully understands is one which has an immediate impact. The only sentence, in my judgement, that does that is one of immediate custody. I hope that gives you the wake up call that your family can't."
Dodd, wearing a black shirt and trousers in the dock, was jailed for 680 days and handed an indefinite restraining order. Some of his supporters were seen in tears in the public gallery, with one man telling him "love you" as he was led to the cells.
