A thug drunkenly attacked the mother of his baby after she asked him to get out of her flat. Robert Ricketts had been banned from visiting his victim under conditions of bail, following a previous assault.
Ricketts, 21, first attacked the woman on October 13 2021 and was bailed by police following the incident. Two weeks later, on October 27, she contacted him and asked him to come to her flat because she felt suicidal, Bolton Crown Court heard.
Despite bail conditions prohibiting him from doing so, Ricketts visited with three of his friends. The group drank alcohol in the flat and the woman went to bed at around 2am, prosecution barrister Simon Barrett said.
Ricketts went into her bedroom and repeatedly asked her for money. When she asked him to get out, he threw a coat hanger at her and slammed the door in her face.
The woman then shouted at Ricketts and he pushed her to the floor. He then left the flat with her shoes.
She followed Ricketts outside to ask for her shoes back and reached for a man bag belonging to one of his friends, who she knew to be carrying a knife, Mr Barrett said. Ricketts then rugby tackled the woman to the ground.
A short time later, he took the shoes back to the flat, got his belongings and left. Police arrived at around 4am and took the woman to hospital after noticing a patch of blood in her hair.
Ricketts, of The Haven, Little Lever, was sentenced to a community order for the October 13 assault during a hearing in November. He has since pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm in relation to the October 27 incident.
In a victim personal statement, the woman said she is “scared” of Ricketts and ‘scared of what he’d do next’ if she ‘stood up to him’. She added that she wants to be “left alone”.
Defending Ricketts, Thomas Worsfold told the court that he currently cares for his disabled dad. He added that at the time of the incident, Ricketts was “going through a difficult period”.
The court also heard that Ricketts suffers with mental health issues, after he was the victim of a violent incident a number of years ago.
Judge Tom Gilbart handed Ricketts a suspended prison sentence. Sentencing him to six months, suspended for 18 months, he said: “It should be to your great shame that you have behaved in this way, not only to the mother of your child but someone you know to be vulnerable.”
He added: “There is absolutely no excuse for what you did. This vulnerable victim was not responsible for your problems.
“She didn’t deserve to be a victim violence at your hands in her own home. You assaulted her in her own property while you were on bail not to contact her. That’s extremely serious.”
Under the terms of his suspended sentence, Ricketts will have to complete 100 hours unpaid work and the Building Better Relationships course.
Judge Gilbart also imposed a restraining order, prohibiting Ricketts from contacting the woman or visiting her home for five years.
