Jail for jealous man who beat heavily pregnant ex with hammer

The poor woman was eight months pregnant when her jealous ex, Daniel Tandy, assaulted her in her Market Drayton home.

Tandy, 27, had travelled all the way from his partner's home in Birmingham after learning about the woman's pregnancy, discussing her with others by text in the weeks leading up to the attack.

On the night of October 10, 2018, he knocked on the door of her home and when she opened it he pushed her down and rained down blows with a hammer.

She did her best to protect her stomach, and although she was left with facial bone fractures and a broken wrist, her unborn baby survived.

Tandy, of Brook Road in Oldbury, escaped by car but a number of witnesses saw the vehicle.

He was tracked down by police in the coming days and admitted causing grievous bodily harm.

In video interviews heard by the court during the trial, the victim of the assault said that Tandy had previously threatened to burn her house down and was a "violent person".

Lies

But he could not be sentenced until a related trial came to an end – his partner at the time, Joanne Terry, 44, lied to police and told them Tandy was at home with her on the night in question.

She denied perverting the course of justice, saying that Tandy could have left the house without her knowledge, but a jury found her guilty earlier this year.

Terry, of Barnard Close in Birmingham, was brought to court alongside her ex-partner to be sentenced on Thursday.

Judge Peter Barrie sentenced Tandy to a sentence of 12 years and nine months, comprising a jail term of nine years and nine months plus an extended period out on licence of three years.

Meanwhile to Terry he handed down a sentence of one year in jail, suspended for 18 months.

For an element of punishment he also imposed a curfew between 7pm and 7am for 10 weeks, and ordered her to pay £500 towards the prosecution costs.