A former actor jailed after admitting assaulting his “highly vulnerable” mother has had his sentence cut by appeal judges.
Joshua Malin, 35, of Tottenham, north London, was given a jail term of three years and eight months by a judge at the Old Bailey in October.
Appeal judges Lady Justice Simler, Mr Justice Jeremy Baker and Judge Andrew Menary on Thursday cut that term to three years, at a Court of Appeal hearing in London, after Malin argued that the original sentence was excessive.
Malin, who has appeared in EastEnders and The Bill, was not at the appeal hearing but watched on a prison video link.
He tells me not a day goes by without him thinking about his relationship with his mother and the harm he has caused her— Barrister Charles Burton
The three appeal judges heard that Malin had admitted assaulting his mother, Diana Malin, then aged 71, in March 2022, and admitted breaching a restraining order.
They said he had made an “early guilty plea” and concluded that the “totality” of his sentence was too high.
Malin had punched his mother, who has a number of health problems, a number of times when she was in bed, appeal judges had been told.
He had a number of previous convictions for assaulting his mother dating back several years, they heard.
Mr Justice Baker said the 2022 attack was the “latest in a series of offences of violence” and breaches of restraining orders.
He said the attack was “truly serious” and described Malin’s mother as “highly vulnerable”.
Barrister Charles Burton, who represented Malin, had argued that a sentence of three years and eight months was “excessive”.
Mr Burton told appeal judges that Malin had “very deep-rooted” issues arising from “childhood trauma”, had “wrongly blamed his mother”, and had “become obsessed”.
“He tells me not a day goes by without him thinking about his relationship with his mother and the harm he has caused her,” said Mr Burton.
“He must separate himself from the past.”
Mr Burton added: “He is someone who does express genuine remorse for what he has done.”
Appeal judges heard that Malin was taking steps to address his problems and Lady Justice Simler urged him to continue that “learning process” and maintain his “good behaviour” in prison.
