Man jailed for 18 months after hitting his sister in the face

The woman suffered a nose bleed as a result of the incident that happened at her Telford home.

Christopher Sheridan, 23, had been banned from communicating or staying at the property, in Hurleybrook Way, Leegomery, after he was previously assaulted her and was sentenced to a community order and a restraining order that prevented him from contacting her for two years.

The defendant, who has a string of convictions for violent offences, admitted an offence of assault occasioning bodily harm and breach of a restraining order at Shrewsbury Crown Court.

Prosecuting barrister Richard Davenport told the court that Sheridan was pleading guilty on the basis that he had hit the woman with his palm and not his fist during the incident on July 27.

He said when the defendant was sentenced by magistrates on February 16 for the previous attack he was ordered to not contact his sister and two of her friends.

"On or about July 1 the defendant got in touch with his sister looking for somewhere to stay," Mr Davenport said.

"She initially told him he couldn't stay, but he kept ringing her up and she gave in . He normally takes medication for schizophrenia, but had not been taking it for some time.

"While he was started to verbally abuse her and threw a cup at the wall causing a dent. He also threw a TV across the room and called her rude name. On one occasion he took a knife from the kitchen draw and rubbed it against his tummy saying he was going to harm himself.

"He asked her for money and when she refused he hit her on the nose which caused her to fall backwards on the bed, causing her nose to bleed."

He said he had also grabbed his sister and his mother when she tried to intervene.

When Sheridan, of no fixed abode, was arrested he refused to make any comment.

The court heard that he was sentenced for two offences of assault and an offence of criminal damage in January this year. The defendant, who has learning and communication difficulties was assisted in court by a support worker. He has a total of 23 previous convictions including for assaulting a police officer in December 2014 for which he was jailed for five months.

Mitigating barrister Danny Smith said Sheridan had spent a lot of his life in care and in custody for a range of matters.

For breaching the restraining order Sheridan was jailed for 10 months and for assaulting his sister he was jailed for six months consecutively.

The previous sentencing orders were revoked and he was re-sentenced and jailed for two months for the previous assault to run consecutively.

He must serve half before being released on licence and he must not contact the injured party for three years with immediate effect.