Thug's prison plea to Sheffield judge after beating partner and forcing her to make false rape allegation

A violent thug who subjected his partner to physical and mental abuse and forced her to make false rape claims on video begged his sentencing judge to allow him to serve his full prison sentence. 

When Dale Shaw embarked on a campaign of pernicious and damaging abuse against his then-partner between 2022 and 2023, he had already been convicted of coercive and controlling behaviour against another girlfriend, Sheffield Crown Court heard during a hearing held on October 16, 2023. 

Prosecuting barrister, Richard Davies, said the complainant described their 14-month relationship as being ‘absolute hell’. 

In one incident, Shaw, aged 34, hit the complainant to the face, before forcing her to make false rape allegations and refer to herself as ‘a piece of s**t’ in a video he went to distribute on social media. 

Describing the incident, which took place on April 14, 2022, the judge, Recorder Angela Frost, told Shaw: "You forced her to say things on recording about other local males, and forced her to say she had been raped.

"You recorded that confession, if you like. And in that video, it can be seen that she has blood around her mouth, bruising and swelling to her face, eyes and mouth.

"You could be heard being aggressive…you told her she was a ‘piece of s***’ - that’s how you made her feel.

"She was visibly distressed. You shared the video on social media, in order to humiliate her, and forced her to make the video after causing the injuries that could be seen on the video."

The court was told how Shaw, of no fixed abode, continued with the assault after making the video, ‘stamping’ on the complainant’s head and kicking her, as she lay in the foetal position on a mattress. 

"She genuinely thought she was going to die," Recorder Frost told the court. 

Mr Davies described how the complainant subsequently attempted to escape in such a rush she left her dogs behind, and as she tried to run from the property Shaw ‘pulled her back by her clothes, which she felt rip’. 

This part of the assault was witnessed by neighbours, who phoned the police. 

"The complainant says that at this stage she was not ready to make a complaint," Mr Davies said. 

Recorder Frost said video footage of another incident of violence on November 15, 2022 demonstrated the ‘type of physical abuse’ Shaw would subject her to, including ‘grabbing her as she tries to leave the premises’; ‘grabbing hold of her’ and arguing with her and ‘trying to stop her from leaving’. 

Describing the mental abuse and control Shaw inflicted upon the complainant, Mr Davies said Shaw would regularly use, and go through, the complainant’s phone, and his controlling behaviour was such that she had to ‘watch’ who she spoke to and ‘how she spoke to people’. 

"He would accuse her of sleeping with her ex-partners," Mr Davies said. He also told the court how, after hearing the complainant intended to spend some of Christmas Day 2022 playing video games with her son, Shaw destroyed their games console. 

A friend of the complainant of some 25-years described how she heard less and less from the complainant after she entered into a relationship with Shaw. During a visit to see the complainant, while Shaw was present, she said she was shocked, both by the complainant’s meek demeanour and the amount of weight she had lost. 

"She would ask [the complainant] questions, and the defendant would answer…she found this strange as the complainant was normally chatty," Mr Davies said. 

Around March and April 2023, the complainant told the same friend, complainant two, that she had broken up with Shaw; and he subsequently turned his attention to complainant two, making threats to ‘torch her house’ and ‘pepper her house,’ which she took to mean he intended to ‘petrol bomb’ her home. 

After being arrested in July 2023, Shaw was charged with, and subsequently pleaded guilty to, charges of coercive and controlling behaviour, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and making threats to destroy or damage property. 

In a statement to the court from the first complainant, she described herself as being a ‘totally different person’ in the wake of Shaw’s abuse, suffering from ‘severe anxiety’ and feeling the need to constantly check whether Shaw was still remanded into custody with the investigating officer. 

The second complainant said she felt ‘very anxious and nervous’ that Shaw would carry out the threats and had fitted her letter box with a cover so he could not petrol bomb her home, she said in a statement. 

Mr Davies said Shaw has a criminal record of 42 offences from 23 court appearances, including other convictions for assault occasioning actual bodily harm; coercive and controlling behaviour and breaching a restraining order, relating to a former partner. 

Defending, Joel Wootten, said Shaw’s offending had been ‘precipitated by alcohol and drugs,’ adding that when he abstains from both he manages to stay ‘out of trouble’.

Mr Wootten continued: "He expresses his remorse, in terms of both complainants, and wants [the first complainant] to get on with her life, and put this behind her…and he accepts this will need to be without him."

Mr Wootten also told the court the defendant has mental health problems, and suffers from attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, for which he has ‘never been medicated’. 

Recorder Frost sentenced Shaw to 31 months’ jail time and told him he will serve up to half of that behind bars. 

Shaw responded by asking Recorder Frost whether it was possible for her to order for him to serve his full sentence behind bars, because he believed it to be the only way for him to get the support he needs for his ADHD and mental health needs. 

"I don’t want to hurt anyone else, it’s not nice. I need to be medicated now," Shaw told Recorder Frost. 

She told the defendant there was ‘limited scope’ in terms of available powers to order that he serve the entirety of his sentence in custody, adding that it was his ‘responsibility’ to turn his life around. 

"I do sincerely hope you end this pattern of offending against women, and that you get the help you need," Recorder Frost said. 

She also granted two restraining orders, prohibiting Shaw from contacting the two complainants for a period of five years.