A “controlling” teenager who kneed his girlfriend in the face when their relationship became violent has been jailed for more than two years at Bradford Crown Court.

Prosecutor Danielle Gilmour told the court that 19-year-old Cayden Monaghan began a relationship with the woman in early 2023 but that he “rapidly became controlling over who she met, where she went, and what she did.”

That behaviour caused arguments between them prompting the woman’s mother to ban Monaghan from the family home in Bradford.

However, despite the arguments, which became violent, they continued to meet.

Between April and September she made several attempts to break up with Monaghan, who would become “abusive and emotionally manipulative”. She then felt guilty and would go back to him, the court heard.

In August they were at Monaghan’s home in Leeds, when he struck her with his hand whilst wearing a large ring, which left a lump on her head and caused a black eye.

Later that month, he grabbed her by the head and “smashed his knee into her face, causing a broken and bloody nose”.

An ambulance was called but Monaghan’s only response was concern over whether he might be arrested. He warned her “not to snitch” on him.

She again tried to break up with him but Monaghan bombarded her with messages, created various accounts on social media in an attempt to contact her, and threatened that he would kill himself.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Cayden Monaghan has been locked upCayden Monaghan has been locked up (Image: West Yorkshire Police)

She eventually ended the relationship but a few days later, on September 2, Monaghan confronted her in Buttershaw, kicked her, grabbed her hair, and threw away her mobile phone.

She ran home and her father accompanied her to find her missing mobile phone. They saw that Monaghan was still hiding nearby and called 999.

Monaghan, of Grange Avenue, Leeds, was later arrested in Chapeltown. During interview he answered “no comment” to all questions.

Mitigating for Monaghan, who appeared via video link from HMP Doncaster, Harry Crowson said there was no medical evidence to support the victim suffering a broken nose. However he accepted that it had been “an incredibly unpleasant incident” caused by “a strike by the knee to the face”.

He said Monaghan was just 18 at the time of the attack, had had a difficult childhood, and that he had pleaded guilty to charges of actual bodily harm and common assault.

He added: “He is a young man needing understanding of how to regulate his emotions, not somebody who is willing to vitriolically, deliberately, and nastily attack his partners because he believes they deserve it.”

Mrs Recorder Taryn Turner sentenced Monaghan to a total of 26 months in prison.