A teenager who began subjecting his girlfriends to systematic violent abuse when he was just 14 years old has been sentenced to two years’ detention.
Dylan Taylor, 19, left one girl fighting for her life as he choked her and knocked another out cold by deliberately slamming his car brakes on.
He left one of the girls devastated by destroying a memory box containing photos of her dead friend, and smashed one victim’s head off a toilet seat.
Dundee Sheriff Court was told that Taylor showed little empathy for his victims.
Taylor, from Perth, was made the subject of a non-harassment order, banning him from approaching either victim for seven years. A nine-month supervised release order was also imposed.
Sheriff Alistair Carmichael said: “I have come to the conclusion there is no alternative to a custodial sentence.”
The court heard Taylor attacked one of the girls by grabbing her shoe, filling it with river water, and tipping it over her head, before dragging her along the ground by her arm.
He smashed a can of Irn-Bru over the other victim’s head and took away five mobile phones from her because he was angry that she was in touch with her friends.
Taylor attacked her in a supermarket car park by biting her leg so hard he left teeth marks on her ankle and was “smug” and unrepentant about what he had done.
The full horrific details of Taylor’s three-year campaign of abuse against the girls – starting when he was a 14-year-old schoolboy – were recounted at the court.
He admitted a total of nine charges starting in March 2016 and carrying on until October 2019.
Depute fiscal Charmaine Gilmartin said one of his victim’s was still at school when she got involved in a violent relationship with jealous Taylor.
She said: “He grabbed hold of her with one hand and held a pillow over her face to stop her screaming. She began struggling to breath.
“He put his hands round her neck and began to strangle her, and said: ‘I’m going to f****** kill you.’ For a moment she thought she was going to die.”
Mrs Gilmartin said that in the space of a few months Taylor destroyed five mobile phones she had.
He throttled the girl again on a second occasion and told her he was going to kill her. Her mother caught him with his hands around her daughter’s neck and he ran away.
Mrs Gilmartin said that on yet another occasion he dragged his victim off a bench by the leg, causing her to land on her back, before taking off her shoe.
“He removed the shoe, took it to the river and filled it with water and poured the river water over her head. He grabbed her arm and pulled her along.”
Taylor also jumped up and down on her “memory box” destroying her collection of highly sentimental photos, including of a recently deceased friend. He poured a jug of juice over it to ensure nothing could be salvaged.
Taylor also carried out a campaign of violence against a second girl which started shortly after they started a relationship when she was 16.
Mrs Gilmartin said he first attacked her after she confronted him for cheating on her. He kicked her while she was on the ground and choked her. She added: “He pushed her into the vehicle. He drove some distance before slamming on the brakes, causing her head to bang off the dashboard and lose consciousness.”
She told the court that in another incident, Taylor was carrying a can of Irn-Bru when he pushed the teenager down the stairs for no apparent reason.
“He took hold of the can of Irn-Bru and struck her a number of times. He grabbed her by the hair and dragged her round the bathroom. He banged her head against the toilet. After 20 minutes she got up from the floor.”
Jobless Taylor took her phone and put video of her vomiting on SnapChat to humiliate her and he headbutted her, causing her nose to burst.
Taylor then drove her to a nearby Tesco and parked, before carrying out further attacks on her.
“She was crying and said she wanted to go home. He was laughing at her. He grabbed her leg and bit hard on her shin.
“He punched her face and her nose started to bleed again.”
Taylor sneered at her: “Look, you idiot, you’re getting blood on my car.”
