A man was caught terrorising his girlfriend with a zombie knife on his very own ‘dog cam’.
Footage showed Anthony Murgatroyd hitting his partner on the head and pulling her hair, before he grabbed the fearsome-looking blade from the floor, lunging at her.
On the day of the brutal attack, the pair got into an argument about the 38-year-old man seeing prostitutes.
The motion-sensor camera he had set up to find out which dog was chewing the furniture triggered and captured the fight.
Murgatroyd dragged the victim into the street and was seen hitting her, before she sought refuge into the living room of her house in Leeds.
He followed her inside, where he threatened her with the knife, making stabbing and slashing motions to her body.
Murgatroyd can be seen putting the knife behind the sofa, where a big dog was cowering in distress.
He then pulled a screwdriver from his grey jogging bottoms and shoved it at the victim’s face, before hitting her again.
The footage shows the man then handing her a beer bottle and shouting at her to open it with her teeth.
Miraculously, the woman escaped from the house and ran to her neighbours, and police were alerted.
Officers traced Murgatroyd to his address in Waverley Garth, Beeston, where he was arrested after a violent struggle in which he was tasered.
Fearful of repercussions, the victim was unable to support a prosecution against him.
But footage from the ‘dog cam’ gave enough to show what had taken place on the day of the attack on November 9.
Murgatroyd pleaded guilty to both offences, and received a 20-month sentence at Leeds Crown Court yesterday, which included a previous domestic-related assault in August.
Detective superintendent Lee Berry said: ‘This was a prolonged and violent attack involving weapons.
‘The victim feared for her life during what was an absolutely terrifying ordeal.
‘She was left so distressed and afraid of Murgatroyd she felt unable to support a prosecution against him.
‘But once officers secured and viewed the footage from the ‘dog cam’ they were able to use that as key evidence to progress to charges.
‘We are committed to doing everything we can to tackle violence against women and girls and we take all reports of domestic abuse seriously and use all available means to bring offenders to justice.
‘Our specialist domestic abuse officers will always support victims with the aim of giving them the confidence to provide statements and support prosecutions against violent partners but, where this isn’t possible, we will other look at other ways of taking action against offenders and keeping victims safe.’
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