The ex-partner of a thug whose violent assault left her with two black eyes and broken teeth has blasted the justice system for ‘letting him off’ with a suspended sentence after he attacked a second woman.
Former doorman and trained cage fighter Dominic McCluskey, 24, was jailed for 13 months in September 2016 after he battered mother-of-one Brogan Sloan, now 25, from Gateshead, while in a jealous rage in an attack which began as she slept.
He admitted assaulting her, damaging her phone, assaulting a police officer and damaging a police tablet computer.
After starting a new relationship in September last year, he gave an unnamed woman a false surname – but when she discovered his real identity and Googled him, she was shocked and appalled at what he’d done to Brogan and left him.
Former doorman and trained cage fighter Dominic McCluskey, 24, was jailed for 13 months in September 2016 after he battered mother-of-one Brogan Sloan, now 25, from Gateshead. The couple are pictured together before the attack, which happened in May 2016
Two days later he launched a terrifying onslaught, flipping her under a bed and stamping on it while she was trapped underneath and throttling her during a ‘nasty and cowardly’ attack.
Newcastle Crown Court heard the mother-of-one “thought she was going to die” during the 30-minute assault. She has now moved out of her home and been left traumatised as a result of her shocking ordeal.
McCluskey, of County Durham, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and was sentenced to 21 months suspended for two years with 200 hours unpaid work and a three year restraining order.
Brogan said the punishment is ‘terrible’, adding: ‘I can’t actually believe that is what he was given.
‘When I was in that position I didn’t agree with the sentence received and I definitely don’t agree with this one.
McCluskey’s violent assault left mother-of-one Brogan, pictured, with two black eyes and broken teeth
‘Not once but twice he has assaulted women and he’s just getting let off with it. He should be punished for his crimes.’
She added that she was ‘so sorry’ to learn that McCluskey had struck again.
‘Hearing that he had lied about who he was is absolutely shocking,’ Brogan said. ‘I only wish this woman had found out before committing to him what he was really like and what a troubled man he is.
‘I can only apologise that someone else had to go through the same traumatic experience I did.’
McCluskey had been in a relationship with his most recent ex, who has a three-year-old daughter, for six weeks after meeting her on a night out before she ended it after finding out he had used an alias name to hide his violent past from her on November 1.
Brogan, pictured after the terrifying assault in 2016, said she was ‘so sorry’ to learn that McCluskey had struck again
During the assault, which took place at her home, McCluskey throttled his ex while uttering threats and smashed her phone against a wall.
Referring to a victim impact statement, prosecutor Rachel Glover said: ‘She says she doesn’t want to exaggerate but she genuinely thought she was going to die.
‘She was very scared, has never been so scared in her life before. She was in a lot of pain and not only has it affected her physically but also mentally.
‘She never wants to see him again but wants to know why he did this and what did she do to deserve it.’
The victim said the assault had also had ramifications for her daughter and that their Christmas was affected as she felt she couldn’t take her to the shops or to see Fenwick’s window.
Brogan blasted the justice system for ‘letting McCluskey off’ with a suspended sentence after he attacked a second woman. Pictured after his attack on her
She added that she had to move house as she didn’t feel safe where she was as a result of what happened.
The court heard she has had to take painkillers and sleeping tablets, has suffered flashbacks, possibly has post traumatic stress disorder, and is seeking counselling.
It was around 3.45am on November 3 that McCluskey went to the woman’s home.
Miss Glover said: ‘The defendant flipped the bed she was sat on, throwing her on the floor and the bed ended up on top of her. He then stamped on the bed, knowing she was underneath it.’
McCluskey had been in a relationship with his most recent ex, who has a three-year-old daughter, for six weeks before attacking her
There was some discussion between them and she managed to calm him down a bit and they went downstairs.
Miss Glover continued: ‘While downstairs he then started strangling her and making threats while doing so.
‘He then stopped because her phone started ringing again. He grabbed her phone and smashed it against the wall.’
McCluskey left and the victim went to her mum’s and her dad took her to hospital, where she was found to have soft tissue injuries.
She was also left with a tinging sensation down her left side, had to have physio and was left with insomnia and anxiety.
Judge Sarah Mallett said she had seen body worn camera footage of her and that she was in a ‘very frightened state’ and in ‘significant pain’ from an injury to her jaw.
Judge Mallett told him: ‘You lost your temper, you lost it completely. The incident lasted about 30 minutes which is a really long time for her to be as frightened of you as she obviously was.
‘She said she genuinely thought she was going to die and she was in a lot of pain. This was a nasty and cowardly assault.’
Brave Brogan, pictured after McCluskey’s assault, said she can ‘only apologise that someone else had to go through the same traumatic experience I did’
The judge acknowledged there was a ‘different side’ to his character and that he stayed out of troubled while he was in a relationship with another woman, who wrote a letter in McCluskey’s favour.
The court heard it was after he split with her that he went off the rails again.
Shaun Routledge, defending, said McCluskey, who has been in custody since December 6, is capable of keeping out of trouble.
‘It was a nasty and cowardly assault and he stamped on the bed with this lady underneath it although the injuries weren’t the worst of their type,’ he added.
‘He has shown a great deal of remorse, he has taken advantage of talking therapies, he has suffered a trauma himself which must have been a frightening experience for him.’
Brogan said McCluskey’s punishment is ‘terrible’, adding: ‘I can’t actually believe that is what he was given. When I was in that position I didn’t agree with the sentence received and I definitely don’t agree with this one’
Mr Routledge said McCluskey had started taking drink and drugs and mixing with people he had associated with in the past, at the time of the assault.
He added: ‘The offending appears to be a throw-back to the behaviour he was involved in around about 2015, 2016. It looked as if he stopped behaving in such a way.
‘There is some good in this young man, he is capable of playing his part as a father or partner or hard worker in society.
‘It’s a pity all the good work he had done between 2017 and 2019 appears to have been completely turned on it’s head in the space of half an hour.’