An Aberdeen man whose former partner suffered years of vile domestic abuse, including biting her breast and chasing her down a street, has finally been jailed.
Violent Taylor Lamb, 20, admitted launching a glass bottle at his ex-girlfriend in a fit of rage, striking her head so hard that blood was streaming down her face.
During the horrendous three-year relationship, he unleashed horrific physical abuse on the woman – including punching, biting and attempting to throttle her.
Lamb bit his victim’s breast in one incident and on another occasion in May last year, he chased the woman out of her home and down the street – then threw items at her.
His brave victim took photographs of her countless injuries to document evidence of her ordeal between May 7 2020 and May 7 2023, Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told.
Victim had on-off relationship with possessive and jealous Taylor Lamb
At the earlier hearing, fiscal depute Dylan Middleton previously said the couple had been in an on-off relationship since 2020 and that 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 Aberdeen’s 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 legs and body on two occasions, while on December 3 he bit the woman’s hand, before punching her upper body around five times on her.
He punched the woman’s face on December 14, bursting her lip open and causing it to bleed.
Four days later, he bit her thumb, which also bled.
Abusive Lamb ‘punched the complainer to the nose causing it to bleed’
On Christmas Day last year, Lamb again punched the woman’s face, once more bursting her lip, which started to bleed.
Two days later, he 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 a property at Byron Court, Aberdeen, and when the woman asked him to calm down, he seized her throat and restricted her breathing for around 10 seconds.
Then Lamb bit her leg on February 6 this year, before scratching and punching her chest on February 19, which left scratch marks and bruising.
Taylor Lamb ‘threw a glass bottle at the complainer’
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.
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 explained.
“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.”
Concussed domestic abuse survivor needed her lacerated head glued shut
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 the hospital, where she had the laceration to her head glued shut.
She had also suffered a concussion as a result of the attack.
He also admitted to a second charge of assaulting a different woman at Seaview Caravan Park, Bridge of Don, by punching her head on November 22 2021.
Aberdeen man locked up at HMP Grampian
On Monday, defence agent Shane Campbell told the court that his client was aged 17 when this “period of offending began and was 19 when it came to an end”.
Mr Campbell added: “He can’t offer any reasonable explanation for this litany of offending directed at the complainer over a substantial period of time.
“Except to indicate that during this period, he was abusing cannabis and when he was unable to source the drug, he became extremely irritable and suffered issues with paranoia.
“This is a relatively young man who has major issues.”
Sheriff Ian Wallace told Lamb, whose address was given as HMP Grampian, that he was satisfied that a prison sentence was the “only appropriate sentence, given the nature of offending,” adding: “It is sustained offending”.
He sentenced Lamb to 18 months in prison – backdated to May 8 this year – and imposed a non-harassment order, meaning he cannot approach his former partner for five years.
On the additional charge, Sheriff Wallace placed Lamb under a community payback order with supervision for two years following his release from prison.
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