Man burnt partner in Barnsley with lit cigarette during "appalling" episode of violence, court told
“This is an episode of the most appalling violence”
A man gouged at his ex-partner’s eyes and burnt her with a lit cigarette in a vicious assault after letting himself into her home.
Joules Regis was jailed at Sheffield Crown Court for the prolonged attacks he committed upon his ex-partner inside her home in Barnsley.
The pair had been dating for 11 years and in that time had a son together.
“This is an episode of the most appalling violence, used against somebody who at the least you once loved and who is the mother of your child,” Recorder Caroline Sellars said.
The court heard how Regis entered the victim’s home without her knowledge at around 1am one day in March 2026.
She had accidentally left the back door open, and only realised 32-year-old Regis was inside when he came into the living room.
He quickly grabbed her phone and scrolled through it for 20 minutes, before throwing the phone against the wall.
It was then that things turned violent, the court heard.
“You then pushed her to the floor and pushed your fingers into [the victim’s] right eye, attempting to gouge at it, causing a haemorrhage to the eye” Recorder Sellars added.
“Thankfully no permanent harm was caused.”
Throughout the assault, which lasted between 30 and 40 minutes, Regis proceeded to kick the victim.
The judge went on to describe the attack, adding: “Not satisfied with that, you took a lit cigarette and burned [the victim’s] left foot.”
He then held a lighter to her arm to burn her again.
Attempting to explain his actions, Regis said to the victim - who sat in the public gallery for the sentencing - that he had not smoked cannabis recently, with the court told how he was known to become violent when not on drugs.
He was arrested and originally pleaded not guilty to charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, but changed his plea in June.
Regis’ defence barrister, Matthew Moore-Taylor, said that this was his client’s first stint in prison and he had struggled with not being able to see his children.
“It is that that has been most significant to him and it is that, to borrow an expression, which has made him want to get on the straight and narrow,” Mr Moore-Taylor added.
The barrister said his client understood that this was an “ugly offence” and had taken his time in custody while waiting to be sentenced as an opportunity to improve himself, gaining a position as a cook.
But the judge said: “I am afraid the seriousness of your offence on this occasion [...] was so serious it can only be punished by a period of immediate custody.”
The judge sentenced Regis, of Nowell Walk, Leeds, to 20 months’ imprisonment.
She also imposed a restraining order prohibiting him from speaking to the victim, unless in relation to childcare, for eight years.
Before sending him to cells, the judge warned Regis not to break this order, adding: “If you appear before me for breach of that restraining order you can expect to be returned to prison.”