Wigan brute sentenced at Teesside Crown Court for 'reprehensible' harassment of Hartlepool ex-partner

Scott Stevens, 34, was guilty of assault, criminal damage and frightening threats.

On one occasion he threw a cricket bat through her front window when he thought she was with another man, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Rachael Landin described how Stevens moved in with the victim in Hartlepool after they met in the North West.

But his violent tendencies led to the couple separating soon after the birth of their child.

During a visit to see the baby, Stevens became irate and pushed his ex-partner before later hitting her with some phone cables.

He also caused damaged by attacking her car.

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A few months later Stevens turned up at the woman’s home early one morning and tried to climb in through a window.

He then threw a cricket bat through the living room window where his ex-partner had been.

The following day he left a chilling voice message aimed at another man in which he said “I’m not leaving this town till I’ve broke that guy’s legs”.

Stevens, of Bolton Road, Wigan, narrowly avoided jail after admitting two counts of common assault, criminal damage and harassment between May and July 2022.

In mitigation, the court heard Stevens was fuelled by drugs and alcohol but is now clean and has shown remorse and insight.

Sentencing him to 12 months prison suspended for two years, Judge Richard Clews said: “Your behaviour throughout that time was deeply unpleasant and entirely reprehensible on a number of levels.”

He was also given an indefinite restraining order and 100 hours of unpaid work.