A violent thug permanently scarred his partner after hurling a dinner plate into her face because he was unhappy with a curry she had cooked him.
Former Royal Mail worker Glen Grey then armed himself with a broken wine bottle, chased the terrified woman through his holiday park caravan in Birchington and threatened to kill her.
The attack happened at Birchington Vale Holiday Park in Birchington. Picture: Google
As she barricaded herself in the bathroom, Grey smashed his way through the door and warned: “I am going to end you.”
The 63-year-old has now been jailed for four years after a jury found him guilty of unlawful wounding and making threats to kill.
Sentencing Grey at Canterbury Crown Court on Thursday, Judge Simon James described the attack as a “persistent and sustained incident of domestic violence” which subjected the victim to a “truly terrifying ordeal”.
He said Grey had caused “significant and permanent facial scarring” and showed “no indication of the merest flicker of remorse”.
The court heard Grey and the victim had been in a relationship “for some time”, although there were “differences on precisely the nature of it”.
Glen Grey was arrested following the incident at Birchington Vale Holiday Park. Picture: iStock
Prosecutor Alistair Smith outlined how the violence unfolded at Birchington Vale Holiday Park on September 24 last year.
“She cooked him a curry; he was dissatisfied with that, he became angry, alcohol was involved, and he threw a plate at her, causing an injury to her face,” he said.
“She fled to the toilet of the caravan, and he smashed his way in to pursue the attack, hitting her and threatening her life in the way it was reflected in the charges: threats to kill.
“In the statement she made, he had a broken glass bottle in his hand, and said, ‘I am going to end you’.”
After escaping from the caravan, the woman contacted police, who arrested Grey.
In a victim personal statement read to the court, she said Grey had “ruined my life”.
She described him as a “dear friend” who has “his own demons” and struggles with his mental health.
“It is not okay for him to treat me the way he has over the years and leave a scar on my face which will never go away,” she said.
Glen Grey was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court
Mr Smith added: “She described not being allowed to leave and then being hit a number of times after the plate was thrown.”
He told the court the injury was “a permanent one of scarring which will inevitably be visible on her forehead”.
Grey has seven previous convictions for eight offences dating back to the 1980s, including assaulting a police constable, criminal damage, battery, possession of a bladed article and breaching a restraining order.
Mitigating, Dr Andreas O’Shea said: “This defendant is 63 years of age and will be 64 next month, so he is of relatively advanced age.
“Plainly this is a very serious assault. There is no getting around that.
“Looking at his previous convictions, one can see he was convicted when he was very young, and there is a very long period where he appears not to get in trouble at all.
“The underlying explanation of why things go bad is he loses his wife before 2018.
“At that point he starts losing hope and going to drink.”
Judge Simon James said Glen Grey showed not the ‘merest flicker of remorse’. Picture: Ministry of Justice
Dr O’Shea said Grey, who chose not to take part in the remainder of his trial after giving evidence, had previously worked for Royal Mail as a union representative.
He also argued there had been a “degree of provocation” on the day of the attack after a man referred to as Mr Walker had fought with Grey, creating “a source of tension which exploded in the course of the day”.
Judge James sentenced Grey to three years in prison for unlawful wounding and a consecutive one-year term for making threats to kill.
He also ordered him to pay his victim £4,000 in compensation.
Kent Police said it was unable to provide a custody photograph of Grey.