"Monster" Halifax rapist jailed again after headbutting and stamping on woman in violent attack

A convicted rapist who was branded "a monster" by his teenage victim is back behind bars after he headbutted and stamped on a woman during an "out of control" attack at his home.
Halifax man Tahir TajHalifax man Tahir Taj
Halifax man Tahir Taj

Tahir Taj was jailed for four years for rape back in 2007 after he attacked a 19-year-old woman and in 2011 he was locked up for more than three years for drug-dealing.

Bradford Crown Court heard that a woman who went to his home in the early hours to share drugs last October ended up being headbutted and stamped on by the 36-year-old.

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Prosecutor James Bourne-Arton said Taj, of Grosvenor Terrace, Halifax, was already behaving bizarrely when the complainant arrived and her attempts to calm him down were unsuccessful.

After attacking his victim Taj ordered her out of the house and made further threats if she "grassed" on him.

But Mr Bourne-Arton said the injured woman did contact the police and she was later treated in hospital for injuries which included a wound to her ear requiring four stitches.

When police arrested Taj they found blood in the house, but he denied assaulting the woman.

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Judge Colin Burn was told that Taj, who worked as a barber, had little recollection of the attack but was now apologetic.

Taj was originally charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, but his guilty plea to the lesser offence of unlawful wounding was accepted by the prosecution.

Jailing him for 24 months Judge Burn said it was quite clear that Taj was completely out of control at the time.

"You were acting irrationally. You were acting very violently," he told Taj.

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"I don't know how much of the assault you actually remember. It is quite clear you were dangerously out of control.

"Fortunately the injuries suffered were by no means life threatening but they were very unpleasant."

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