A serial domestic abuser has admitted seriously assaulting his new partner and her young daughter.
During an earlier hearing at Swindon Magistrates’ Court, Karl Bauld, 33, denied one count of grievous bodily harm (GBH) and one count of actual bodily harm (ABH).
Appearing before Swindon Crown Court today, the defendant, of Melstock Road, Taw Hill, pleaded guilty to the assaults in his home on 18 March this year.
Crown prosecutor Keith Ballinger told magistrates at Bauld’s first appearance on 19 March that his new partner – and her daughter – had been staying at his house after they met on a dating app approximately three months prior.
There had been no issues up until this incident, the relationship was going well and there were ‘like a family’ over the past two weeks.
In a statement, his victim said Bauld smoked cannabis but went outside to do so – he didn’t do it in her presence and it didn’t appear to have a negative effect on him.
The night before the assaults, the defendant is said to have started smoking a vape which was said to have an adverse effect on him.
Early the next morning, his victim woke to find him rummaging through his wardrobe and talking gibberish. She went back to sleep.
Some hours later, at 6.30am, Bauld was awake, chatting and vaping. She gets up and gets her daughter ready for school whilst he remains in bed. He’d text his boss to say he wasn’t coming to work due to illness.
The victim is then stood at the door with her daughter shortly before 8am when he comes down the stairs dressed only in a pair of boxer shorts and says: “What the f**k are you doing?”
She initially thought he was joking, but he launched a violent attack on her.
She was grabbed and pulled partly up the stairs before he slammed her body to the ground. He then repeatedly punched her to the back of the head and face, leaving her bloodied and with a black eye.
The court heard how she was screaming in agony, and immediately following the attack believed she had gone blind.
He then turned on her daughter, lifting her into the air by her hair before smashing her and her mother’s heads together.
Her mother remained on the floor as he continued assaulting her – she attempted to scratch at him to break free. Once free of his clutches, she takes her daughter and runs next door for help and 999 is called. Bauld also called 999.
His adult victim suffered a laceration to the top of her head which required stitches, a cut to her lip and a swollen cheek. Her daughter didn’t sustain any significant injuries but suffered a sore head as a result of it being struck against her mother’s.
Scaffolder Bauld has four previous convictions for offences against the person, including an assault on a partner in 2012 and an assault on a different partner in 2017. He also has previous for breaching non-molestation and restraining orders.
At the previous hearing, he said he had concerns the pair were attempting to steal an Xbox and spare change from him and was trying to prevent them from leaving.
He also said there was “nothing unusual in my vape or anything which would have altered my state of mind”.
Having changed his pleas to guilty to GBH on his adult victim and ABH on his child victim, he’ll be sentenced at Swindon Crown Court in early June. He was released on conditional bail with a curfew.
A pre-sentence report was ordered to explore the reasons behind the offences. His defence solicitor suggested it could be linked to his drug use and a brain injury suffered in 2011.
