Hartlepool man Harley Murray makes impassioned plea to judge after smashing his way into partner and kids' home
A dad smashed his way into his pregnant partner’s home in the early hours of the morning after drinking and taking drugs.
Intoxicated Harley Murray, 25, turned up at the address in Hartlepool where his partner and two young children were at 2.30am on January 25.
Teesside Crown Court heard he demanded to be let in and threatened to smash his way in.
Prosecutor Tabitha Buck said Murray’s partner told him he should not be there due to him being under the influence and the presence of the children.
But he refused to leave and while she was distracted with the children he broke in.
Once inside he accused the mother of his children of cheating on him and slapped her in the face in front of the children, said Miss Buck.
Murray then went into the kitchen and got a knife which he pretended to stab himself in the neck with.
His frightened partner called the police who attended and arrested him.
Murray, of Plymouth Walk, Hartlepool, admitted affray.
In an impassioned letter to the judge, he said he was “truly sorry and disgusted” at his behaviour that night.
He said: “My two little girls and fiancee mean absolutely everything to me.”
Murray added he has been working with drug and mental health professionals over the last seven months to better himself.
His partner also wrote to the judge saying his actions were out of character and that he was a caring father.
Recorder Mark Giuliani sentenced Murray to 22 months of imprisonment, which was suspended for two years, and imposed an alcohol monitoring tag of 120 days.