Thug attacked man and woman after bursting into Hartlepool home at night

James Crammen burst into an address in Duke Street, Hartlepool, looking for a man he wanted to sort an issue out with.

Teesside Crown Court heard that the person was not there but that Crammen punched, kicked and stamped on the victim who was present with his partner.

The 26-year-old attacker also hit the partner in the face when she tried to intervene and assaulted a police officer who tried to arrest him.

An accomplice of Crammen’s kicked in the front door of the address, said prosecutor Nigel Soppitt.

Mr Soppitt said: “When that happened the defendant Crammen ran into the property.

"He punched the victim hard to the face and head area.”

After knocking the man to the floor, Crammen kicked and stamped on him about three times.

Mr Soppitt added: “The force of the stamp was such that it forced his two earrings out.”

When the victim’s partner tried to stop the attack, Crammen swung out, hitting her in the lip.

Police were forced to put a spit hood on the defendant after he attacked the constable and also tried to bite other officers.

The judge said Crammen has an “extremely bad” record for such assaults with nine previous convictions in recent years, mostly against police.

He admitted assaulting an emergency worker, actual bodily harm and using violence to enter a premises.

He was also found guilty of common assault.

Crammen had only been out of prison for five months before the incident in July.

Stephen Constantine, mitigating, said his client had sorted out his drug issues during his last sentence.

Mr Constantine said of the incident: “It’s an instantaneous reaction to something he was told that was very emotive and he reacted.

"He wants to sort his life out and build on the progress he was making.”

Recorder Fiona Davies told Crammen his decision to go to the address was “foolish in the extreme”.

She added: “It’s a great shame that when you are released from prison you then behave in this violent way.

"The only possible sentence is a further period in custody.”

Crammen, of Emmerson Court, Hartlepool, was sentenced to 80 weeks in jail.