A man carried out a three-year campaign of violent domestic abuse upon his former partner – even biting her on the breast on one occasion.
Taylor Lamb appeared in Aberdeen Sheriff Court via video link where he admitted a catalogue of vile assaults upon the woman that included, punching, biting and attempting to throttle her.
On one occasion in May last year, the 20-year-old threw a glass bottle at his ex-girlfriend, which struck her on the head and resulted in blood streaming down her face.
Lamb then chased the woman out of her home and down the street where he continued to throw items at her.
His violent behaviour was only able to be recorded due to his brave victim taking photographs of her countless injuries between May 7 2020 and May 7 2023, the court was told.
Punched woman in the face
Fiscal depute Dylan Middleton told the court that the couple had been in an on-off relationship since 2020 and said Lamb’s behaviour started to change after about three months.
It was stated that Lamb would become possessive and jealous and accused her of having affairs when she was visiting her family.
On December 22 2021, the woman met her cousin at a restaurant in the Bon Accord Centre and introduced her to Lamb.
Her cousin saw she had bruising to her neck, which the woman admitted at a later date had been caused by her new partner.
Through January and February last year, Lamb assaulted the woman on several occasions, once punching her in the face.
In November 2022 Lamb kicked her to the legs and body on two occasions, while on December 3 he bit the woman on the hand before punching her around five times on her upper body.
He punched the woman in the face on December 14, bursting her lip open and causing it to bleed.
Four days later he bit her on the thumb, which also caused bleeding.
On Christmas Day last year, he punched the woman again in the face, once more bursting her lip, which started to bleed.
Restricted her breathing
Two days later Lamb became aggressive for an “unknown reason” and “punched the complainer to the nose causing it to bleed”, Mr Middleton said.
“He further bit her to the breast leaving a mark.”
Lamb then began punching walls around the property at Byron Court, Aberdeen, and when the woman asked him to calm down he seized her by the throat and restricted her breathing for around 10 seconds.
He then bit her on the leg on February 6 this year before scratching and punching her to the chest on February 19, which left scratch marks and bruising.
On March 19, the woman returned home with her cousin and Lamb became angry and started pacing back and forth in the living room.
The cousin hid behind a door to avoid Lamb but saw him throw a hairdryer at the woman, which caused her to run from the house in fear.
Mr Middleton told the court that the woman did not seek medical attention for her various injuries up to this point, but did document them by taking pictures.
Accused chased woman down the street
At around 1.10pm on May 7 2023, the woman returned home with a friend and when she informed Lamb she was only going to be there for a short time he locked the back door and placed the keys in his pocket.
“Whilst within the kitchen, the complainer asked for the key at which point the accused kicked her to the left leg,” Mr Middleton said.
“The complainer sat down in order not to further anger the accused but saw him pick up a glass placemat, which he smashed on the floor.
“The complainer then went to the bathroom with her phone where she messaged her friend, asking him to come over and help her.
“The man arrived shortly after with a friend and, noticing the accused was acting aggressively, they spoke with him and tried to calm him down.
“The accused then threw a glass bottle at the complainer, striking her on the head – she immediately felt blood running down her head and was in a lot of pain.
“She felt dizzy but did not lose consciousness.”
The woman then fled out of the back door, which had been unlocked, where she called the police.
Lamb chased her out of the back garden while holding a metal cooker handle in his hand.
As he continued to chase her down the street he threw another glass bottle at her, which missed.
A neighbour came to their door and tried to encourage Lamb to stop and beckoned the woman to take refuge in his address.
Irate, Lamb stood in the street holding up a pole and began to scream before leaving the area.
As police arrived and arrested Lamb, the woman was taken to hospital where she had to have the laceration to her head glued shut.
She also suffered a concussion as a result of the attack.
‘Lacked maturity’
Lamb pleaded guilty to engaging in a course of action that was abusive to his then-partner by assaulting her on numerous occasions.
He also admitted a second charge of assaulting a different woman at Seaview Caravan Park, Bridge of Don, by punching her to the head on November 22 2021.
Defence agent Sam Milligan told the court that his client began this “catalogue” of violent offending when he was “just shy of his 17th birthday”.
“From the outset, he lacked maturity and lacked insight on his offending,” Mr Milligan said.
He called for background reports to be carried out into Lamb prior to sentencing.
Sheriff Andrew Miller deferred sentence on Lamb, whose address was given as His Majesty’s Young Offenders Institution Polmont, until later this month in order for a criminal justice social work report and a restriction of liberty assessment to be carried out.
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