Man beat girlfriend and forced her to hide bruises

A man who repeatedly punched his girlfriend before forcing her to hide the bruises has been jailed for two years and nine months.

Michael Keane, 38, began to verbally abuse his partner one month into their relationship before carrying out a campaign of physical abuse that lasted six months.

Douglas Courthouse heard at one point he placed a mattress against the front door of her flat to make it difficult for her to leave.

Passing sentence, Deemster Graeme Cook said he had subjected the "vulnerable" woman to "appalling" and "degrading" treatment.

The court heard the couple had met in October 2023 on a night out.

While they had initially divided their time between Keane's home in Liverpool and hers on the island, he went on to move in with her.

The court was told Keane had begun verbally abusing the victim within three weeks of them meeting, and started regularly hitting her in November that year.

He would then refuse to let her leave the flat until she covered up the bruises he had given her, the court was told.

After being punched in the face by Keane on one occasion in April 2023, she "crept out" of the flat and called her sister, who encouraged her to report him to the police, the hearing was told.

Keane was arrested, and later broke his bail conditions by letting himself into the woman's flat without permission and sending her threatening messages.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, she said she had never imagined someone that she thought she was going to spend the rest of her life with "could hurt me in this way".

Keane pleaded guilty to committing domestic abuse between 1 November 2023 to 4 May 2024.

Deemster Cook said the victim was an "extremely vulnerable young person" who had trusted him.

The deemster imposed a restraining order forbidding Keane from contacting or approaching the victim, and an exclusion order banning him from the island for five years after his release.

Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.