Thug who controlled girlfriend's social media and attacked dog unmasked as serial domestic abuser

A thug who controlled his girlfriend's social media accounts and abused a dog can today be unmasked as a serial domestic abuser.

Christopher McMenamin was jailed last week after isolating the woman from friends and family, accessing and monitoring her online activities, and demanding money from her.

He also attacked a dog and assaulted his partner on a number of occasions during his reign of terror.

And it can now be revealed that the woman is his third domestic abuse victim, as he has landed in court twice before for his treatment of previous partners.

In 2019, he dodged jail after being convicted of harassing his partner of 10 years following their split.

Dumfries Sheriff Court heard McMenamin, of Annan, Dumfries and Galloway, had hounded the woman on WhatsApp, demanding to know who she was with and making derogatory remarks about her.

He then went on to offend again, and in 2021, he was slammed by a sheriff for the "endemic violence" he subjected another victim to.

Dumfries Sheriff Court heard he repeatedly shouted and swore at the woman and on one occasion punched her on the head, causing her to fall to the ground, before kicking her on the head and spitting on her face.

He also regularly attacked the woman while she was driving, with the court being told he grabbed the car key  causing it to break, spat at the woman, struck her head off the steering wheel and repeatedly struck the vehicle’s door.

He also attacked hee on another occasion, grabbing her by the private parts after knocking her to the ground by punching and kicking her on the head and body.

The abuse took place between January and August 2020, in Gretna, Dumfries and Galloway.

McMenamin appeared at Dumfries Sheriff Court over tha abuse in March 2021, and was jailed for two years.

At the time, Sheriff Brian Mohan said: “Charge one is a particularly serious example of domestic abuse.

“You are someone who is unable to control your own temper and reacts with violence when things don’t go your way.

“Violence and aggression have been part of your adult life.”

He added that due to “the endemic violence" involved he was putting McMenamin on a non-harassment order which banned him from approaching or contacting his victim for two years.

Once released from prison, McMenamin began a relationship with the woman who was to become his third victim.

But he was jailed at the High Court in Glasgow in Thursday after being convicted of physically, mentally and sexually abusing the victim in Annan and Dumfries between 2023 and 2024.

He regularly shouted, swore and acted aggressively towards her, made derogatory remarks about her and threatened her with violence.

He monitored and controlled where she went and how she communicated with others, and demanded money from her.

He also performed sex acts on her without her consent, and was regularly violent.

He was convicted of engaging in a course of conduct which was abusive of his partner, in breach of Section 1 of the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018.

He was convicted of engaging in a course of conduct which was abusive of his partner, in breach of Section 1 of the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 and was jailed for 23 months.

He was also made the subject of a supervised release order, which will see him monitored in the community for 12 months when he is released from custody.

And he was made the subject of a 10-year-long Non-Harassment Order, banning him from approaching or contacting the victim.