Hartlepool man broke into house to see ex partner in 'deliberate flouting' of restraining order

Daniel Auton broke into his ex’s mother’s house in West View, Hartlepool, when his former partner did not answer the door.

By doing so he breached two restraining orders issued by the courts to prevent him having any contact with his ex partner, her mother and sister.

The orders were made last year after Auton, 23, was convicted of malicious communication offences and possession of a blade.

He went to the house at about 8pm on August 11 of this year where he shouted for his ex partner through the letter box.

Her mother and sister were also inside.

Jessica Slaughter, prosecuting at Teesside Crown Court, said: "The door wasn’t answered so he made his way to the rear of the premises and smashed the rear patio door window and gained access to the premises.”

The three women went upstairs and called the police.

Ms Slaughter added: “The defendant followed the women upstairs. He entered a bedroom where the women were inside.”

Auton’s ex-partner managed to make her way past him and go outside and the others were able to talk him into going downstairs.

He was seen leaving the address when a policeman arrived.

Auton was described as being drunk and was holding a can of lager.

He was arrested and put in a police van after putting up a struggle.

The next day while in custody Auton spat and swore at a policeman when he tried to interview him.

He admitted two counts of breaching a restraining order and one of assaulting an emergency worker.

The Recorder of Middlesbrough, Judge Paul Watson QC, said: “That was in deliberate and premeditated defiance of the court that you should have no contact with her and shouldn’t go to that address.”

He added: “The whole point [of a restraining order] is to protect the individual.”

Auton’s barrister Kelly Sherif said he had a troubled life from a young age including serious health issues after falling off a roof.

She added: “It would seem that this has been a somewhat tumultuous relationship between him and the complainant.”

Auton, of Coleridge Avenue, Hartlepool, was jailed for eight months.

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