A VIOLENT thug asked “what beer would you recommend before killing somebody?” before battering his nurse girlfriend. Faye Welding had booked into a hotel with Lee Cunliffe for a trip away to the Trafford Centre near Manchester but she was attacked by him after they became separated during the evening. Initially Cunliffe, 35, went back […]
A VIOLENT thug asked “what beer would you recommend before killing somebody?” before battering his nurse girlfriend.
Faye Welding had booked into a hotel with Lee Cunliffe for a trip away to the Trafford Centre near Manchester but she was attacked by him after they became separated during the evening.
Initially Cunliffe, 35, went back to their hotel to meet Miss Welding only to berate her over the phone and tell a receptionist: “What beer would you recommend I have before killing somebody?”
During the ensuing assault on a nearby roundabout he repeatedly slapped Miss Welding across the face, pulled her arm and bent back her left index finger so it almost broke in two.
Miss Welding who works at a GP’s surgery as a practise nurse and who has since split up with Cunliffe underwent tests for a possible fracture to the finger but she was found to have suffered severe ligament damage.
She had to take several weeks off work but is thought to be back and helping other NHS workers beat the Covid-19 crisis.
In a statement to police she said: ”I am in constant fear of going outside as I don’t want people staring at me and I’ve had trouble sleeping as I am constantly afraid that when Mr Cunliffe gets out, he will try and hurt me.
”My sleep has been so badly affected I have had to see my GP in order to get sleeping tablets due to me not getting more than one hour uninterrupted sleep.
”He has previously told me he will kill me and will make a mess of me and that no-one would want to date me after that.
At Minshull Street Crown Court, Cunliffe, of Orford, Warrington, Cheshire admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm and was jailed for 12 months.
He was also made subject of an indefinite restraining order banning him from contacting Miss Welding.
The incident occurred on January 4 this year after the couple who had been together for nine years booked into the Premier Inn hotel opposite the Trafford Centre.
Kate Gaskell prosecuting said: “They had an argument earlier on at the Trafford Centre and had become separated but made an arrangement to meet up at 1am.
”Shortly prior to that meeting a hotel worker recalls Cunliffe asking for a mobile phone charger and having an aggressive conversation with someone. He then walked up to the hotel worker and said: ‘What beer would you recommend I have before killing somebody?’.
“He then went outside to meet Miss Welding in the middle of a large roundabout and another argument followed.
“He began to hit her and slap her across the face with an open palm.
”She was extremely scared and ran towards the hotel and went through some bushes to get to the entrance.
“It was a sustained and repeated attack on the complainant which involved pulling of her hair, hitting her and chasing her as she went for help.”
Cunliffe had been drinking heavily in the run up to the incident. He had previously been convicted in June last year of public order matters and possessing an offensive weapon and was made subject of a 12 month jail term suspended for two years.
He also had other convictions for drink driving and assault.
In mitigation defence lawyer David Polglase said his client had suffered a brain injury as a result of an incident several years previously and added: “Whilst there is a degree of sustained and repeated nature of the assault it doesn’t go on for the longest of times.”
But sentencing Judge John Potter told Cunliffe: “You hit your victim over the head and slapped her across the face on a number of occasions. She was frightened by that appalling behaviour by you but you continued to assault her.
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