Man jailed for life after aggressive assaults on two 13-year-old girls and his partner
Liam Keith Hall carried out the attack in Chilton in September
A cage-fighter and convicted killer has been jailed for 16 years following a horrific attack on his partner and two teenage girls at a house in Chilton.
Liam Keith Hall punched, kicked and choked the unrelated teenagers at his girlfriend's home in Chilton, County Durham, in September, when he was drunk, on drugs and angry at having lost his wallet.
Hall, 33, then launched into a terrifying and prolonged assault on his 24-year-old girlfriend, whose two young children were upstairs, leaving her with broken bones and serious facial injuries, before he calmly walked out of the blood-spattered house.
Mr Hall punched his victims repeatedly causing significant facial injuries before fleeing the scene to avoid officers.
Two of the victims were required to undergo facial surgery due to the nature of their injuries.
Hall was swiftly arrested, charged, and later pleaded guilty to two counts of grievous bodily harm and one count of attempt grievous bodily harm.
The 33-year-old, from Chilton, appeared at Teesside Crown Court on Tuesday, December 21, where he was jailed for 16 years.
“A horrific, sustained, and unprovoked attack"
Investigative officer Meggan Rutherford, who led the investigation, said: “This has been a horrific, sustained, and unprovoked attack, whereby the three victims have all sustained life-changing injuries which have required ongoing treatment.
“The defendant is a very dangerous individual and he has not only impacted the victims lives but also the lives of their friends and family. They were left unrecognisable after the assault.
“Nothing can change what they have been through but hopefully this sentence will give the victims some comfort that he will be behind bars for some considerable length of time.”
Hall has a previous manslaughter conviction
Hall had a previous conviction for manslaughter, after he killed a man in a pub fight, and had only been dating the woman for a couple of months after being released on licence from a prison sentence for other serious, violent offences.
Jolyon Perks, prosecuting, told Teesside Crown Court that Hall banged one girl's head against the wall, then grabbed the other and choked her unconscious.
He also punched her repeatedly in the face and stamped on her face, and she later recalled choking on blood.
Hall broke her eye socket, nose and arm, and a consultant later said she had too many injuries to count.
The other 13-year-old was also knocked unconscious and she later recalled Hall dragging her upstairs by the hair.
Another child witnessed the scene and ran home hysterically to raise the alarm, telling her mother "there's blood everywhere", the court heard.
"I cannot begin to imagine how frightened they must have been"
Each of his victims had statements read for them in court which detailed their on-going trauma.
One girl said: "I look in the mirror and I think I just don't recognise myself."
The other said: "I cannot remember everything. I think it would be better if I had remembered, it bothers me."
His now ex-partner added: "I cannot begin to imagine how frightened they must have been when they went through what happened to them."
Hall admitted two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, and one of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent.
His barrister, John Turner, said Hall could not remember the incident but has expressed remorse.
A "ticking time bomb"
Recorder Jo Kidd dismissed the defendant's claims of remorse and said that following his release from prison in May 2021, he was a "ticking time bomb".
She said the attack was unprovoked, on children, and was "grave and gross".
"Your relative size and weight by comparison to these children cannot be under-estimated.
"In light of your previous conviction for manslaughter, where you killed a man by punching and kicking, you should have been only too aware of the risk you posed to anybody, but particularly children, if you chose to behave in that way again."
She sentenced him to life in prison with a minimum of eight years inside before he can apply for parole, and imposed an indefinite restraining order regarding his victims.