Brutal attacker jailed for nearly four years after forcing victim to eat her own hair from dog bowl
Horrific abuse inside W11 flat
Karl Soames, 25, has been locked up for three years and ten months after terrifying a woman in his Tavistock Crescent flat. The sadistic assault saw him cut off her hair and force her to eat it from a dog bowl. The nightmare didn’t stop there.
He poured boiling water over her, stabbed her with scissors, whipped her with a coat hanger, and beat her head with a marble pestle and metal pole. Soames also made her clean up dog faeces during the ordeal on 9 May 2019.
Savage threats and shameless boasting
Soames threatened to have the woman raped and murdered if she tried to escape. Only when he sent her out on an errand the next morning, making her hide her injuries under a headscarf, did she manage to flee and alert her mother and the police.
After his arrest, Soames denied the attack, claiming his victim was obsessed and that she arrived injured at his flat. But CCTV, phone records, and a chilling phone call to his brother bragging about the abuse exposed his lies. His supposed alibi had been out of the country during the attack.
Court condemns ‘sadistic’ torture
On 12 October, Soames pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm, false imprisonment, and threats to kill. At Isleworth Crown Court, Judge HHJ Curtis-Raleigh blasted the defendant:
“This was a sustained and brutal attack over many hours with weapons and boiling water on a helpless and vulnerable victim. You made chilling threats, degraded her by cutting her hair and forcing her to pick up dog faeces. You boasted about it. It is sadistic and you have shown no remorse whatsoever.”
Victim shows incredible strength
Detective Constable Chris Willey from the Met’s Central West Command Unit called this one of the most serious domestic abuse cases he has seen. He praised the victim’s “remarkable strength and dignity” throughout the investigation.
The victim herself said: “If I hadn’t been made to run that errand on the Friday morning, I honestly don’t think I would have made it out alive.” Her bravery helped bring this monster to justice.
