Domestic violence thug on the run four years after being jailed over balcony fall

A thug jailed for attacking his partner before she fell from the balcony of a third-floor flat is on the run one year after his sentence finished over a new assault.

Police have launched an urgent appeal to find Walsall man Michael Riggon, who has a history of violence against women and was locked up for three-and-a-half years after attacking his then-girlfriend who fell from a tower block balcony in 2015.

He is now wanted in connection with a domestic attack against a woman which happened in Perry Barr on November 20 last year, one year after his jail term was due to finish. Had he been convicted of attempted murder he would still be in jail.

Detectives have warned the public not to approach Riggon, who is in his late 50s and sometimes uses the surname Johnson, but to instead urgently call 999 if they see him.

Riggon is originally from Pleck, has lived in Caldmore and also has links to Birmingham.

Riggon was jailed in 2015 after attacking his then-girlfriend Kayli Hill with an ornament before she plunged from the balcony of a third-floor flat in Walsall.

Ms Hill fractured her back, pelvis, ribs and wrist in the fall and Riggon was charged with attempted murder - but that charge was dropped midway through his trial and he instead admitted causing GBH.

Had Riggon been found guilty of attempted murder he would likely have faced 20 years behind bars, the sentencing judge said, suggesting that a lack of evidence had forced his trial to be halted.

At the time Riggon had 129 previous convictions, seven of which were violent crimes against women.

It is not known when he was released from prison, but he was ordered to serve half of his jail term by the judge meaning he would have been eligible for release on licence from midway through 2017.

The Ministry of Justice has had no contact with Riggon since November 2018, when his sentence was due to finish.

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said today: "Michael Clive Riggon is wanted for domestic assault. Do you know where he is?

"Riggon is poses a significant risk to members of the public, and is known to be violent.

"Anyone who sees him is advised not to approach him, but to contact police on 999."

'Sadistic monster'

Ms Hill, 28, later explained how she thought Riggon was going to kill her when he attacked her with an ornament they'd received as a housewarming gift after she caught him with another woman in the flat they shared in Wood House, Little London.

Ms Hill fell after climbing over the balcony of her flat in a bid to escape Riggon, her boyfriend of seven months who she described as a "sadistic monster".

"I knew if I ran for the front door, he would have caught up with me and stabbed me, so I jumped through the broken window onto the balcony," she explained.

"I was trapped, he came back out with the knife so I climbed over the corner of the balcony. He said: 'If you want to jump, jump', and I said: 'I don't want to'.

"I was hanging on with my arms and I could see his legs through the gap in the railings. I screamed at him to pull me back up because I was slipping, and he told me to grab his leg.

"As I moved my hand to grab his leg, he stepped backwards and I felt myself fall.

"I just closed my eyes and the last thing I remember is hitting the other balconies on the way down."

Ms Hill was in a coma in Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth hospital for almost two weeks and spent four weeks in intensive care before being allowed home to live with her mum. She still needed full-time care and a body brace eight months later.

At Riggon's sentencing for GBH in October 2015 after the attempted murder charge was dropped, Judge James Burbidge said: "It is disconcerting that such a matter should be turned at the last minute for all sorts of reasons, not least evidential."

As well as calling 999, anyone with information on Riggon's whereabouts can also call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.