F1 lorry driver kicked partner unconscious on Wakefield street then tried to take pill overdose
A HGV driver kicked his partner unconscious on the street before threatening her with a knife as he downed pills in a bid to kill himself.
James Garahan, who has a history of violence, was jailed at Leeds Crown Court after admitting charges of ABH and making threats with a bladed article.
The couple had been in a relationship for around five years but had separated. On June 27 last year they met up for a drink and eventually went back to her home.
The next morning she left to walk her dog, but he followed her and launched into an attack.
CCTV caught the assault and was played to the court. He struck her to the face, pulled her to the ground by the hair and kicked her to the head.
She was left motionless and face down in the road. Garahan had got in his car and drove off, but returned to pick her up, bundled her into the car and drove her back to her home.
The woman, who had begun to come around from her dazed state, said 49-year-old Garahan continued to punch her during the drive back.
He ordered her to have a shower to wash the blood off her. He then told her he intended to kill her and himself, before he swallowed a large number of pills, prosecutor John Hobley told the court.
He was holding a knife he had grabbed from the kitchen. The woman was able to raise the alarm and the police arrived at the Normanton flat a short time later.
They forced entry and found Garahan vomiting, drifting into unconsciousness and bleeding from his nose. He was given medical assistance and later arrested.
During his police interview he said the woman had attacked him and had told him to kill himself.
Garahan, of Queens Avenue, Pontefract, has 14 previous convictions for 32 offences. He was already on a 21-week suspended sentence for ABH and had been given a 12-month community order for assaulting emergency workers.
Mitigating, Eleanor Mitten said Garahan had stayed out of trouble between 2002 and 2024. She said he had been a lorry driving, transporting Formula One cars around.
Ms Mitten said his life “started to fall apart” after the death of his father, amid other issues.
She said he is awaiting an operation because of his sleep apnea and is unable to work. He had been in custody since his arrest and had lost three stone in weight.
She added: “He expresses remorse and regret for what he has done, but everything came to a head and he did just not want to be here anymore.”
Judge Penelope Belcher jailed him for 28 months and activated 10 weeks of his suspended sentence to run consecutively.