Man sunk enamel into girlfriend at Tenerife nightclub earlier than being attacked by hero strangers

Owen Dodd was jailed for 680 days after attacking his girlfriend on their Tenerife holiday, which she had told her mum she had a ‘bad feeling’ about before leaving

A woman warned her mum that she “had a bad feeling” about a Tenerife getaway with her boyfriend before he sank his teeth into her at a nightclub and threatened to stab his relatives with a smashed bottle.

Owen Dodd then savagely punched and kicked his partner as they made their way back to their hotel on the opening night of their overseas trip. His brutal attack only ceased when he was set upon by a group of men, leaving him sobbing the next morning after witnessing the black eyes, cuts and bruises he had inflicted on his victim’s face.

A judge condemned him as a “controlling bully” while sentencing him to prison, declaring: “Sometimes, the only language that a bully understands is one which has an immediate impact,” the court heard.

Liverpool Crown Court was told on Monday that Dodd and Letitia Horne had been acquainted through mutual friends before beginning their romance in December 2024, when the defendant rang her while holidaying in Egypt to ask her to be his girlfriend.

She subsequently picked him up from the airport when he returned, at which point he “brought his suitcase to her flat and moved in without any prior discussion”.

Tom Challinor, prosecuting, explained how the “relationship soon became strained” after Dodd was made redundant and “made little or no effort to get another”, instead “spending most of his time playing computer games”. This resulted in “growing resentment” between the pair before they embarked on a holiday to Mexico with his parents in February 2025.

However, it was reported that they “drank heavily throughout that holiday”, leading to “several arguments and incidents”. Despite being warned by his grandfather to “stop drinking and mistreating people” upon their return to his home in Morris Avenue, Warrington, 23-year-old Dodd later borrowed money from the same relative to join other family members on a “drinking holiday” to Tenerife, reports the Liverpool Echo.

His 22-year-old girlfriend, Ms Horne, also joined him on the trip to the Canary Islands, but had confided in her mother beforehand that she “had a bad feeling about the trip, given how things had gone in Mexico”. Their first day on holiday saw them frequenting several pubs and bars, with both consuming alcohol and taking cocaine and ecstasy before he bit her on the cheek in a nightclub “without warning”.

The group were forced to leave the venue after Ms Horne was left “very upset” by the assault. One of Dodd’s cousins confronted him about his behaviour, only for him to react by smashing a bottle and threatening to stab his relatives. He only agreed to put down the weapon when his girlfriend consented to return to their hotel with him.

Dodd then “lost his temper again” while they were making their way back to their lodgings, having bellowed in Ms Horne’s face and struck her two to three times, causing her to tumble to the ground and smash the back of her head against the kerb. Yet he persisted in his assault while she was on the pavement by booting her in the head a further two to three times as she tried to get back on her feet.

His attack only stopped when another group of men stepped in and began assaulting him as Ms Horne “begged them to stop”. Nevertheless, he then resumed his violence back at the hotel room, where he shoved her into a mirror, causing it to shatter, while telling her that he held her responsible for the attack which he had endured, during which he had lost his mobile phone and watch.

With Dodd said to have wept the following morning after “sobering up and seeing what he had done”, he purchased Ms Horne a pair of sunglasses to conceal her black eyes, she having also sustained blurred vision, bruising and scratches to her face, a split lip and a lump to the back of her head. He meanwhile informed her that her “crying made him angry when he was drunk, and that’s why he lost his temper”.

Ms Horne proceeded to “makeup a story and say she’d been robbed” during a FaceTime call to her relatives back at home, claiming that her bag had been snatched from her during an attack. While Dodd appeared “contrite and promised not to touch her again” following their return to the UK, vowing he would “get a job and seek help”, he instead carried on drinking and taking drugs before his “temper exploded” during another incident while they were visiting his grandparents on April 3.

After Ms Horne had driven him home, he allegedly tried to seize the steering wheel and smash into parked vehicles before striking the windscreen when she brought the car to a halt, causing the glass to fracture in two places. She demanded he get out and sped away as a consequence, marking their “last face to face contact”.

However, Dodd then persisted in contacting Ms Horne through phone and social media, warning her that she “might as well contact the police, otherwise he’d stalk her and never leave her alone”. She eventually reported his behaviour after being urged to do so by both his and her parents.

Ms Horne was compelled to take five months off work after being diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder following the abuse, with Mr Challinor stating: “She says that the emotional and psychological damage, she fears, will stay with her forever. She struggles with anxiety and fear, has constant thoughts of it and constant flashbacks. Such was the stress and trauma she experienced that she started to lose her hair and also lost a lot of weight.”

Dodd has one previous conviction, receiving a fine for assault by beating in 2023. Philip Astbury, defending, told the court: “It is a particular unpleasant offence. It took place at a time when the complainant no doubt felt vulnerable and isolated abroad.

“Your honour has seen two references from his grandmother and mother. His mother, in particular, speaks to another side of his character, his responsibilities caring for his grandmother and also his siblings, a very different side to his personality which one hopes can be channelled and nurtured.

“Your honour sees his difficulties with a previous relationship. Your honour can see the trough in which he found himself at the time. All of these things can be addressed. All these things can be improved. All of them point in the direction of rehabilitation. I submit, in spite of how unpleasant these offences are, that, for the sake of the future, this is a case where a suspended sentence order is better for everybody, not just this defendant.”

Dodd pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and criminal damage. Dressed in a black shirt and trousers in the dock, he was sentenced to 680 days behind bars and given an indefinite restraining order.

Some of his supporters were seen in tears in the public gallery, with one man telling him “love you” as he was led to the cells. Sentencing, Recorder Tania Griffiths KC said: “This occurred only a few months after the start of the relationship. Problems in the relationship began very shortly afterwards. Your behaviour was, almost immediately, seriously predatory and controlling.

“I have formed the very definite view that you are a controlling bully. Sometimes, the only language that a bully understands is one which has an immediate impact. The only sentence, in my judgement, that does that is one of immediate custody. I hope that gives you the wake up call that your family can’t.”

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