Blackpool man jailed after violent attack on partner

A Blackpool woman, who was brutally attacked by her violent partner, has spoken of the lasting physical and emotional damage he has caused.

The woman was left virtually unrecognisable following the horrific attack by violent thug Karl Machin, 43, which he filmed on his mobile phone.

Her injuries were so severe that one of the police officers attending the scene thought she had dyed red hair, but it was actually blood. 

The woman was 'virtually unrecognisable' after being attacked (Image: Police)

Machin attacked the woman at her home in Blackpool on December 4, last year.

The woman was left with a broken jaw and a number of lost teeth, concussion, a brain injury which resulted in memory issues, speech impairment, a broken orbital floor in her left eye socket causing her eyelid to not shut properly, water and droop. 

She also suffered nerve and tissue damage on her face which affected her smile, two black eyes, bruising to her legs, ribs and back. 

The assault also inflicted emotional trauma which she is still working through. 

The victim asked police to release the picture of her injuries to show the severity of the attack.

In a victim impact statement given to the court the woman, who doesn’t want to be named, said: “Although I received significant physical injuries the emotional and psychological damage to me has been just as horrific.

“The trauma and psychological distress this has caused me is immeasurable. I suffer with flashbacks, nightmares. I also am experiencing trauma responses/ triggering such as hyper vigilance. hyper- arousal, anxiety and very distressing panic attacks. I am nervous in big crowds and do not like being in enclosed spaces especially with men around.

Karl Machin (Image: Police)

“I am on edge and feel exposed and unsafe, always on the looking over my shoulder in case someone is behind me who might hurt me. I struggle to sleep due to nightmares as even in my sleep I relive what happened to me.

“I feel vulnerable and unsafe in my own home now as I still have vivid flashbacks of what happened to me there, my home feels like it has been defiled and is no longer my sanctuary and safe space.

She added: “I have no real idea of the true impact emotionally of the attack will be and must be realistic in it may leave me with lifelong repercussions on my self-confidence and esteem, but I am striving and trying my best to regain some of the old me back.

“I do however feel that I have had my safety and peace of mind robbed from me and I do not feel I am not safe here in my home anymore, as it is now stained and tainted with the traumatic memories of what happened in it.

“As well as living with fear of my assailant searching me out or finding out things about me and my son. Finally, I must now try to rebuild myself and my life and try to come to terms with the fact I am never going to ever be the same person I was. I am irrevocably changed and feel I have had some of the best parts of me taken away and obliterated.”

Machin, of Charles Street, Blackpool admitted Section 18 wounding and was jailed for seven years and two months. He was also given a 10-year restraining order.

Det Con Jo Clement, of Blackpool Police, said: “Karl Machin subjected his victim to a brutal, severe and life-changing assault which left her not only with horrific injuries but with lasting psychological damage too. He is clearly an extremely violent individual and I welcome both the custodial sentence and the restraining order imposed by the court.

“I would like to praise the victim for having the courage to speak about what happened to her and to be prepared to go through the court process. I hope her bravery will give other women who may be in violent or abusive relationships the confidence to come forward and report it to police safe in the knowledge we will investigate professionally and sensitively and that we will seek to put offenders before the courts and get justice for victims.”