A WOMAN who was taken to hospital after being assaulted by a dad-of-four has spoken of the lasting damage it has caused.
Michael Williams, of Wokefield Way in Eccleston, was given a three-year jail sentence at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday, May 18, for possessing an imitation firearm, assaulting a woman, and intimidating a witness.
This is an extension to the three-year sentence he is already serving for stealing a bike from a 15-year-old schoolboy, and making references to possessing a "shotty" (shotgun) on Hard Lane in 2021.
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'Don't tell the police'
In relation to the assault charge, the court heard how Williams turned his anger on a woman after she tried to intervene in an altercation between him and his friend.
Prosecuting, Peter Killen explained how the 34-year-old struck her once to the forehead and delivered another blow to the side of her face, while her friend shouted at him to stop.
It is believed that the dad-of-four was holding keys or some "weapon-equivalent" as the blow split the woman's forehead and caused it to bleed. She also had a "star shaped laceration to the side of her face" and was taken to Whiston A&E.
In a panic, Williams told the group "Don't tell the police, I'll go to prison this time", due to the other offences he had committed.
Woman 'scarred for life' due to assault
In a victim impact statement read to the court, the woman who has assaulted said how the incident had left her with a "scar for life".
While it was noted that the scar was not "immediately visible", she was left with an "indentation and a scar" on her face and "low self-esteem" because of this.
The victim also said how the incident had left her suffering from anxiety and depression, although the court alluded to other distressing things she had experienced that could have added to this.
Further distress caused
The court also heard how the same woman was contacted by Williams and two women via Instagram on Christmas Eve in 2022, after she became a witness in a case brought against his younger brother Jack.
In the drunken episode, Williams and the two women called the witness a "lying rat", a "grass" and a "slag", and threatened that they would come to her address.
Judge hands dad-of-four further jail time
Referencing the offences caused to the woman, Judge Swinnerton said to Williams: “You punched a woman with a key or some form of weapon-equivalent, causing a very very nasty cut to her face.
"The photographs I have seen show a very unpleasant injury, which cut through the skin and layers underneath and left her with a permanent scar. It may not be a very visible scar but it is one she is very conscious of.
“You then used social media to contact the victim [and] further threatened and distressed her.
"You knew you had assaulted her but still rang her to call her a liar, a rat, and a slag.”
Williams was sentenced to 18 months for the assault charge and 3 months for witness intimidation.
He was also given 15 months for the imitation firearm offence, meaning that his three-year prison sentence will be extended for a further three years.
He was also given a 10-year restraining order on the woman he assaulted and threatened.
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