‘Poisonous drunk’ beat her boyfriend with dumb-bell and left him for dead

A former hotel worker has been branded a “poisonous drunk” by a judge, after subjecting her boyfriend to a series of horrendous alcohol-fuelled beatings

Natalie Lord, 44, who worked as a housekeeper at Principal Hotel in Manchester, stabbed Leith Gaynor in one attack and smacked him over the head with a saucepan in another, after accusing him of being unfaithful.

Lord, from Salford, was arrested back in 2019, after drunkenly smashing Mr Gaynor over the head with a weightlifter’s dumbbell before leaving him for dead in a pool of blood.

Gaynor, in his 40s, lost consciousness during the assault and was woken up the following day by his mother who went to visit him at his flat in Manchester.

He suffered a 2cm laceration to his left temple and a 5cm wound to the back of his head. He also suffered multiple chest grazes, teeth marks on his chest and bruising to his hand.

Police investigating this latest beating of Mr Gaynor in September 2019, discovered Lord had a history of drink related violence.

She had also been flouting a suspended sentence order imposed for assault on three strangers in 2018.

During the 2018 attack, Lord had gone on a night out after she worked a shift at the four star Principal Hotel.

She reportedly became enraged at a woman speaking on her mobile phone in a foreign language as they and other commuters were waiting for a bus at Shudehill coach station.

”I can understand you and you are slagging me off, you f***ing foreigner,” Lord shouted, before turning on the victims.

She punched one female bystander twice in the face, before taking on the victim’s boyfriend when he tried to intervene.

A third woman was slapped to the face and called a ‘white a*** p***y’ before Lord was eventually apprehended by station staff.

She had also been convicted of attacking a neighbour in a separate incident whilst drunk.

Mr Gaynor issued a statement saying the latest attack had left him feeling “very depressed”, having realised he had forgiven his former partner too many times. He wanted to prevent anyone else from being affected by her violent behaviour.

At Manchester Crown Court, Lord admitted causing grievous bodily harm and was jailed for 27 months. She has been issued a ten-year restraining order, banning her from contacting Raynor.

Sentencing Judge Hilary Manley told her she had “ no excuse” for committing the attack and said a history of drunken violence should have taught her alcohol was a “poison” for her.

“In September 2019 while subject to a suspended sentence order, you chose to drink again with predictable results,” Judge Manley said. “You attacked your ex-partner, a man who you had wounded in 2016 with a knife. You are a poisonous drunk, and you chose to be around him again.

”You have caused very nasty injuries to his head, face and arms.”

While the judge said she was “pleased to hear” Lord had been sober for some six months while in custody, she said Lord had reached the end of the road in terms of chances with the court.

Earlier the court heard Lord of how Mr Gaynor and Lord had been in a ”volatile, unpredictable and difficult” relationship for a ”number of years” .

Prosecutor Miss Amanda Johnson said: “One minute they could be laughing and joking and the next minute she could turn violent.

“There have been previous assaults by this defendant to the complainant and the first involved a knife where she caused cuts to his chest and forearm.”

Johnson referenced previous attacks in which Mr Gaynor had been attacked in his own flat with his back turned, with Lord failing to call an ambulance afterwards because she thought he was “fine”.

In mitigation for Lord, defence counsel Iain Johnstone said both parties had been drinking prior to this particular attack. Lord had been in a stable relationship with Mr Gaynor before the relationship took a turn due to excessive drinking, he said.

”She has created a very chaotic lifestyle especially with Mr Gaynor. It was an on and off relationship. When she has been drinking she turns into a completely different person.”

However, Johnstone said his client was now “serious” about tackling her substance abuse and getting her life back together.

“She has no intention of going back to her drinking ways of old,” he said.

“She is capable of putting up quite a fight in drink. She is not a hopeless cause.”