Marie-Yianna Kalekas

This is Callum Peacock. He battered his girlfriend with a golf club, threw bleach and paint at her, and burned a memorial shirt of her deceased grandmother but has avoided an immediate prison sentence. The 19-year-old defendant, from St Helens, subjected his partner to a cruel three-hour ordeal inside their home. Police officers arrived at the flat to find the victim covered in white paint and curled up in a ball on the bathroom floor. She was audibly sobbing and shrieking through a hole in the door, which was still smouldering and smoking. During the assault, the teenager hit her with a broom handle and a golf club before putting her in a chokehold from behind. When she tried to hide in the bathroom, he smashed the door with the golf club and used an aerosol and a lighter to set fire to it. He then threw dumbbells and a bottle of bleach at her, causing the liquid to splash onto her body. In what was described in court as an extremely selfish act, he took hold of a memorial t-shirt featuring a photograph of her deceased grandmother. He set fire to the garment right in front of her while telling her that her nan would rot in hell. The attack came just two days after another incident where he struck his girlfriend with a hammer following an argument. Following his arrest, he openly threatened his victim in front of police officers, stating that he was going to smash her face in when he got out. But he has now walked free from court after a judge handed him an 18-month imprisonment suspended for 18 months. The court heard he had already spent nearly five months in custody on remand, which the judge noted was the equivalent of a nine-month sentence for a teenager with no previous convictions. He was also given a five-year restraining order and a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 20 days. Another kick in the teeth, metaphorically speaking to the brave young woman who endured his cowardly attacks. The justice in this country cares more about the accused than the victims.