An unrepentant serial domestic abuser has been jailed for 20 months for punching his partner so hard he broke her jaw and knocked her teeth out of line after a new year party.
Russell Telford, 38, was sent to prison after a sheriff noted he told social workers he felt he had done nothing wrong and had no intention of changing his behaviour towards women.
He had already been convicted of a domestic offence against the same woman.
Sheriff George Way said: “This is not a first offence.
“Mr Telford makes it clear to me he is a genuine and real risk inside an intimate relationship.
“That can only be dealt with by a custodial sentence.
“What happened was absolutely brutal and completely unacceptable.
“This was sustained over a period of time.
“At social work interview, he was unwilling to acknowledge the impact of what he had done.
“She sustained a fractured jaw which took six weeks to heal.
“She has teeth which are no longer in alignment and appears to suffer from chronic neuralgia, which will affect her for an unknown length of time.”
Brutal attack in van
Unemployed Telford, who was also made subject to a five-year non-harassment order, attacked his on-off girlfriend after becoming paranoid during a drunken new year party.
He rained blows on his victim after becoming paranoid when she and a friend laughed at the contents of his phone.
Fiscal depute Callum Gordon previously told Dundee Sheriff Court the couple left in a van after 2am.
“He (Telford) slowed the van and stopped and began punching her face with such force that the left side of her face hit the window.
“She tried to open the door and when she did she fell to the ground.
“He punched her repeatedly and dragged her by the hair along the road.
“He got in the van and drove off.”
Mr Gordon told the court the victim was taken to Ninewells Hospital and treated for severe injuries, which had left her with a lifelong impairment.
Telford, from Dundee, admitted assault to severe injury and permanent impairment in Broughty Ferry on January 2 last year.
He admitted throwing a glass bottle towards his victim, repeatedly punching her head, and dragging her by the hair along the street.
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