A man has been released on parole the same day he was sentenced to 16 months in jail for a run of Apprehended Domestic Violence Order breaches, and separate incidents that involved him punching a former partner in the back of her head and grabbing a police officer's testicles while resisting arrest.
Stephen James Hill will remain on parole until May, Magistrate Peter Barnett said on Friday when he sentenced the man for a string of charges that took place since mid-2022 - many of them while he was either on parole or serving a Community Correction Order.
The court heard that in one case, he punched a hole in a caravan wall before striking his former partner in the back of her head after he arrived unwelcome at the dwelling. He then assaulted a man who was also at the scene.
On another occasion, while Hill was on conditional release, police found him in a car at Seaham with a woman who was meant to be being protected by an Apprehended Domestic Violence Order that had been taken out against him.
In a struggle with the two police officers who were trying to arrest him for the breach, Hill grabbed one of the constables by the testicles, the court heard on Friday.
His defence solicitor said the act was accidental but Magistrate Barnett disagreed.
"If he had hit him in the testicles, the court might accept that, but a grip is not an accidental thing," he said.
"It is a nastier form of resist, in my opinion, than just wrestling with the police officer."
Magistrate Barnett backdated Hill's sentence to allow for time he has served on remand, meaning he was able to be released on parole on Friday.
