A man subjected his ex-partner to a "prolonged and nasty" assault and punched her repeatedly in the face.
Dameon Craven carried out a drunken attack on his former partner despite being banned from contacting her due to being subject of a restraining order. The 43-year-old then went on to dangerously pull the handbrake on as they were travelling in a car a week later.
Craven, of Willow Crescent, Blyth, appeared at Durham Crown Court to be sentenced for assault, causing actual bodily harm, criminal damage, endangering road users, and assaulting an emergency worker. He had pleaded guilty to the charges at a previous hearing. He also previously admitted breaches of a restraining order, between mid-December last year and mid-January this year.
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Neil Jones, prosecuting, said on December 13, last year, Craven had been drinking before he carried out a violent assault that saw him spit at the woman before he repeatedly punched her in the face and the left eye area at her County Durham home. A week later, on December 21, Craven "endangered" the woman when he pulled on the handbrake as the pair argued while she drove a car. He then went on to damage the car after throwing a Prosecco bottle at it.
The court heard that in January he again breached the restraining order when he went to her home. When police turned up to arrest him, he "slammed a door" into a police officer’s hand.
Kate Barnes, defending, said Craven, who had 34 previous convictions for 53 offences was, “an extremely courteous and articulate man”, who had an issue with alcohol. She said he was an offshore worker who hopes to address his drinking.
Sentencing him, Judge James Adkin, the Recorder of Durham, extended the restraining order to make it for life, saying he carried out a "prolonged and nasty incident".
He said the abusive relationship left the woman with "low-self esteem" and said: "You don't seem to be able to stop attacking and abusing this particular woman", before adding: "When sober and in person you seem to be able to work effectively." Craven was jailed for 29 months.
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