A man who left his ex-girlfriend with life-changing injuries after a brutal attack has been jailed for two years. Joshua Benali, 33, repeatedly punched the woman in her own home, causing her to lose a tooth and suffer broken bones in her face.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that the couple had been in a relationship for around two years but had separated a year before the attack on March 9 this year. On that evening, both attended a surprise birthday party before the victim returned home with a friend and two of Benali's friends. When she came out of the bathroom, she found Benali standing there. She told him to leave, but he punched her repeatedly in the face. She next remembered lying at the bottom of her stairs, with her neighbour and police officers present.
Crime scene investigators found the walls, ceilings and floor of her bedroom covered in blood. She was taken to hospital with fractured nasal bones and a loosened tooth. In a victim impact statement, she said: 'The pain was absolutely horrendous. I couldn't eat and I had to drink through a straw. My mental health has deteriorated dramatically.'
Benali, of Avondale Road in Haydock, handed himself in to police on March 10 after his mother urged him to do so. He has previous convictions for battery and criminal damage against the same victim in January 2023. The court heard he had been working in prison since his remand and expressed remorse for his actions.
Benali admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm. Recorder David Knifton KC sentenced him to two years in prison and imposed a five-year restraining order, noting the 'significant and lasting impact' of the assault.
