Jealous Guy 'Counted To 3' Before Brutally Beating Ex-GF For Leaving Light On

A man who dragged his girlfriend down the stairs by her hair because she didn't turn off a light in the house has been jailed.

Calum Taylor-Souden attacked the woman three times in her home in Derby, England.

The final beating was a brutal attack that started because the 30-year-old was trying to sleep downstairs, but the victim had left a light on.

Taylor-Souden was sentenced to a year in jail after pleading guilty to three counts of assault, one of criminal damage and possession of a bladed article in public, The Derby Telegraph reported.

Derby Crown Court heard he had been in a brief relationship with the victim, also 30, but “became jealous very quickly.”

He attacked her once in October and twice in December, prosecutor Sonal Ahya said.

Describing the final assault, she told the court,

He shouted up to her giving her an ultimatum that he would count to five and if she had not come downstairs to switch it off he would smash her face in. He got to three and then went upstairs himself, pulled off the covers of the bed and grabbed her by the hair. He then dragged her down the stairs with such force that she said she could feel her face bang on each of the steps on the way down.

The victim fled to a neighbor's house, but Taylor-Souden followed, the court heard.

The neighbor armed himself with a baseball bat, and Taylor-Souden threatened to stab the man with a kitchen knife.

In a victim impact statement, the woman said Taylor-Souden “ruined my life,” adding she has turned to alcohol since the abuse.

Stuart Newsome,  the defendant's lawyer, said Taylor-Souden, who appeared in court via video link from Leicester Prison, had shown remorse.

Jailing him, Recorder Patrick Upward QC described Taylor-Souden's behavior as “outrageous,” telling him he was lucky to be serving just a year in jail.

He was also given a five-year restraining order preventing him from getting in contact with the woman.

Citations: Derby Telegraph