Alex Hill, 42, of no fixed address, has been jailed for 29 months after admitting two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and criminal damage. The offences involved a vicious attack on his girlfriend, Victoria Power, during a short break in Southport, where he threatened to "dig up" her deceased daughter before strangling her until she lost consciousness.
Boxing Day assault
Liverpool Crown Court heard on Monday that Hill had been in a relationship with Ms Power for around six months before "things started to change". On Boxing Day last year, after Ms Power told Hill she wanted to break up and asked him to leave her home in Speke, he left while telling her: "Nobody wants you anyways, you slag."
The following morning, Ms Power awoke to find Hill sleeping on her sofa. When she repeated her intention to end the relationship, he flipped over a coffee table and called her a "slag" and a "rat". He then threw a glass at her, hitting the back of her head, forced her to the floor, and dragged her around by her hair, pulling out several clumps. He also punched her to the nose and right eye before leaving.
Southport hotel attack
Despite reporting the Boxing Day incident to police three days later, the couple went to Southport for a week beginning January 20. On January 22, both had been drinking, and Hill had fallen asleep at the Prince of Wales Hotel on Lord Street. When Ms Power woke him by kissing his forehead, he became angered and told her he was going to "dig her daughter up".
At around midnight, he placed both hands around her neck, causing her to struggle for breath and pass out. When she regained consciousness, he continued the attack by dragging her around by her head, resulting in further hair loss. In a victim statement read to the court, Ms Power said she had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and added: "I feel like I'm still looking over my shoulder when I go outside. Even though I know Hill is in jail, on a daily basis I don't feel safe."
Arrest and sentence
Hill was arrested on March 10, during which he urinated in a police van while being taken to the Royal Liverpool Hospital after telling officers he had swallowed a quantity of drugs. His 32 convictions for 48 offences include 20 months for wounding without intent in 2007 and seven years for conspiracy to supply class A drugs in 2018.
Desmond Lennon, defending, said Hill had been in custody since early March, working full time in the recycling department and completing a marathon on September 25 in support of the Prison Reform Trust. He added that Hill accepted the relationship was over and planned to focus on restoring a relationship with his 16-year-old son.
Sentencing, Recorder Emma Fisher said: "You said horrid things about her daughter, who sadly had died the year before. You put your hands on her neck to the point that she was struggling to breathe." She noted the aggravating features of previous convictions and the domestic violence context, adding: "I am in no doubt at all that I cannot suspend the sentence." Hill was jailed for a total of 29 months and handed a five-year restraining order.
