Abuser jailed for attack on latest partner

A domestic abuser who has a history of violence against partners and poses a high risk to women has been jailed for his latest attack.

Corey Pickering, 28, knocked his last victim unconscious and left her with a bloodied and swollen eye in June, Teesside Crown Court heard.

A judge said Pickering, who in 2024 was given a suspended sentence for coercive control and assault of a previous partner, had a "willingness to use violence" against women and a sense of entitlement.

Pickering, from Billingham, was jailed for one year and eight months after he admitted wounding.

He and his partner of almost a year were walking to a family barbecue on 28 June when he grabbed her by the hair and pulled her to the ground, prosecutor Caoimhe Bicknell said.

Later back at home, the woman locked herself in her bedroom but Pickering smashed the door open and punched her in the face knocking her unconscious, the court heard.

When she came to she was trying to fight him off and screaming, the court heard.

She was later treated at hospital for a laceration under her left eye and "significant swelling and bruising" to the eye.

Judge Amanda Rippon said it was "not an isolated incident" and Pickering was "no stranger to the court" for his behaviour towards partners.

The court heard he was given a suspended sentence in April 2024 for coercive control and assault against a partner, with whom he had been in a relationship for seven months.

That woman said he was violent on multiple occasions culminating with an attack in her car when he repeatedly punched her in the face, pulled her hair, pressed his hand over her mouth and bit her nose, the judge said.

In April 2025 Pickering was acquitted at the direction of a judge of assault and strangulation after the complainant, another partner, refused to co-operate with the prosecution, the judge said.

Rippon said Pickering's claims to have mental health difficulties were not verified by his medical records and in any case could "not possibly be a reason" for why he attacked partners.

She said the issues were his "inability" to control his temper, "willingness to use" violence and his sense of entitlement.

The judge said legally she was unable to call him "dangerous" but if she could make that ruling she would as he "clearly" met the definition, adding he had been assessed as posing a "high risk of serious harm" to partners.

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