A man who subjected five women to horrific assaults over the course of a decade has been given an extended jail sentence of over six years at Dundee Sheriff Court.
Frank Degernier left one victim so shocked by her injuries she compared her facial bruising and swelling to something from the boxing film Rocky.
Another of the victims said her injuries were comparable to a car crash she had been in and another was left with perforated eardrums.
Degernier, 39, of North William Street, Dundee, pleaded guilty to assaulting the women between 2001 and 2013 in a string of attacks, including pinning one woman to a door with a crowbar when she tried to leave.
His advocate, Miryam Labaki, told the court a forensic psychological assessment showed that Degernier had, from a very early age, witnessed violence in his home.
He kicked another victim in the stomach so hard she was sick, rubbed her face in it until she got friction burns and then forced her to clean up the mess while she was pouring with blood and crying.
Depute fiscal Vicky Bell told the court that afterwards the woman was subjected to regular beatings and was too fearful to leave.
She said: “During one of these beatings Degernier punched her, causing her to fall to the ground and then stamped on her hand saying he would ‘make sure it was broken’.”
“He then kicked her full force in her stomach, which caused her to vomit on his carpet.
“As she was being sick he grabbed her by the hair and rubbed her face in her own vomit so forcefully into the carpet that she sustained friction burns on her skin.”
In another attack, Degernier kicked and punched the woman in the head and body while she lay curled up in a foetal position on the ground and was so terrified she wet herself.
The court heard another woman had been attacked by Degernier after he pulled on the handbrake of her car while she was driving, causing her to spin out of control.
He then grabbed her by the throat when she told him to get out of the car and shoved her face into the window.
Sheriff George Way told Degernier that a custodial sentence was inevitable and added that he also wanted a lengthy period of supervision in the community afterwards to protect the public.
He sentenced Degernier to 50 months in prison, with another 24 months’ extended sentence.
Sheriff Way told him: “You will only be released with a programme of treatment.”
The sentence was backdated to November 1 2013, the date he was taken into custody.
VICTIM’S BRAVE MESSAGE TO OTHERS
While Degernier waited for sentence, one of his victims bravely spoke out to reveal her suffering and to warn others not to suffer in silence.
Mum-of-two Wendy Graham revealed the abuse that she had suffered during their relationship in the summer of 2001.
Ms Graham said: “He punched me in the face and knocked me to the floor.
“He repeatedly stamped on my hands in his big work boots, trying to break them, and kicked me hard in the stomach, which made me vomit on his carpet.
“As I was being sick, he grabbed my hair and rubbed my face in it. He did this so hard he left friction burns from the carpet on my face.
“I sat down opposite him in a daze and he repeatedly spat on me, my hair and my clothes.
“I was terrified. My daughter was upstairs and all I could think about was what he’d do if he got to her.”
Ms Graham also said she would encourage other people suffering from domestic abuse to come forward.
She said: “I made excuses for the injuries and tried to carry on, but it was difficult.
“I’ll warn any women to walk out the first time they get slapped or punched by their partner, because there’s a lot more to come.
“Once a man crosses that line, there’s no going back.”