Jilted Zimbabwean man jailed in UK for ex-girlfriend attack

A FATHER who dragged his ex-girlfriend from her bed by her hair before cutting it off in a jealous rage was today jailed for a year.

Ian Hassen, 28, took Rebecca Watton, 29, from her bed and chopped off her long hair with scissors, leaving her bruised and almost bald.

Mother-of-three Watton, of Hamilton, Lanarkshire, had been in a relationship with the father of her children for eight years before the pair split in December 2012.

But Hassen, originally from Zimbabwe, refused to accept the relationship was over and launched an attack on his former partner in April last year.

He had stayed at Watton's home uninvited for three days after looking after their children when she went on a rare night out.

Hassen launched the attack as their three children sat watching cartoons on TV downstairs after finding messages on Watton's phone from another man.

Watton only escaped his clutches after convincing him to take her shopping - and she secretly begged staff to call the police.

Hassen was arrested outside the shop after Watton took off a hat she was wearing to show officers the shocking injuries he had inflicted.

At Hamilton Sheriff Court, Hassen was sentenced to 12 months behind bars. He had earlier admitted assaulting Watton.

Describing her ordeal, Watton said: "Suddenly he just grabbed me and pulled something tight around my neck. Everything was a blur, but I knew that this was only the very beginning.

"He tied me up and questioned me endlessly about what I'd been up to the night before and who I had been with.

"I knew he had obviously read my phone so I confessed I had met someone at the night out who had taken my number and asked me out on a date."

She added: "Without saying a word, he grabbed me by the ponytail that my long hair was tied in and dragged me out of bed. My hair felt like it was being ripped out by the roots and the pain was excruciating.

"Tears streamed down my face and I thought he was going to kill me. Then he started pulling at my hair and I heard the clicking sound of the blades.

"I knew then he was cutting my hair off. I could feel the blades opening and snapping shut against my scalp. He wanted to make me unattractive, like less of a woman.

"He wanted to embarrass me and to make me look ill. I watched through tears as my hair landed in tuffs all over the carpet of my little girl's room.

"Then he told me to go and shower and clean myself up. He hoovered up the hair himself, it was just so surreal."

David Fisken, defending, said: "He was extremely angry that she had been seeing someone else and the relationship was at an end.

"He does regret his conduct, he let himself down and his family down. Quite clearly a period of custody will be on your mind but there are alternatives for a community based disposal.

"I know I am asking you to place an element of trust in him given the serious nature of the offence."

Watton, originally from Surrey, met Hassen through friends before they moved to Scotland together in 2004.

Jailing Hassen, Sheriff Douglas Brown said: "There is considerable public concern about domestic violence and the courts have to apply a sentence to let it be known that it is not acceptable. This is a serious case.

"You threatened your partner and humiliated her by cutting off her hair, presumably to make her less attractive to other men. There is no alternative to custody and the period for that will be 12 months' imprisonment."