EX-ADDICT JAILED FOR DETAINING PARTNER AND THREE-WEEK-OLD BABY
A former ‘long-standing cocaine addict’ intentionally stopped his partner from leaving the bedroom with their newborn baby following a ‘heated argument’ in the middle of the night, a court heard.Luke Tyson, of Salthouse Road, Barrow, was jailed at Preston Crown Court remotely from HMP Preston after pleading guilty to one count of false imprisonment.
The 34-year-old defendant conceded he had unlawfully detained his partner against her own will.
Prosecutor Lewis Hazeldine outlined the facts of the case.
He said: “The complainant was in bed with the defendant when their three-week-old son woke from his crib at 2am on November 29 last year needing a nappy change.
“The complainant woke the defendant and asked him to change the baby’s nappy.
He slammed the door and a heated argument developed.” The court heard Tyson took an ‘intimidating approach’ by repeatedly swearing at his girlfriend whilst she had hold of their baby.
As a result, she started packing some clothes to leave with their son.
Tyson told the victim: ‘I’m sick of you, who do you think you are?
He then proceeded to sit on top of her and told her to ‘shut up’.
“She was begging to be let go and you continued to pin her to the bed,” His Honour Judge Robert Altham, The Honorary Recorder of Preston explained.
“You took her phone and were shouting at her repeatedly.
After 30 minutes, you eventually calmed down and let her ring her mum.” Mr Hazeldine said the victim had managed to voice record the entire incident.
The court heard the offence put the defendant in breach of a 30-week suspended sentence order imposed for an assault against a previous partner.
Defense barrister David Trainor offered points of mitigation.
“The defendant was a long-standing cocaine addict from the ages of 21 to 30.
The culmination of that was the previous assault.
He became abstinent from drug use in April 2023.
He is now supporting others by chairing a narcotics anonymous group.
Warrior Down (LERO) have provided glowing references of him assisting others.
“The victim had a previous child.
She knew what she was doing and was better able to cope than this defendant was.
He felt inadequate alongside her.
He was dealing with a very difficult new situation.
He had difficulties with the lack of sleep.
It was a difficult situation for him.
He knows he dealt with this situation very badly and knows any use of violence is unacceptable.
It is limited in this case; there were no blows or strikes.
He was in a state of panic of what his partner was going to do with a young child.
The situation came to an end because of his own volition.
“Her mother attended and found him in tears.
He was sorry very shortly after.
There is a positive aspect of having him back in the community.” Judge Altham accepted the defendant had shown remorse both at the time and with his guilty plea but ultimately came to the decision that an immediate 54-week custodial sentence was necessary.
“Your child was not sleeping well,” Judge Altham summarised before passing sentence.
“You were both tired and sleep deprived.
Your partner would have been particularly tired because she was the one who gave birth and was feeding him.
Babies of such a young age are affected by hearing verbal abuse.
This sort of conduct is completely unacceptable.
Offending such as this in front of an infant child can only be justified by an immediate custodial sentence.”
