Drunken Wallsend dad assaulted partner at South Tyneside home as their month-old baby slept in same room
A drunken dad assaulted his partner at her South Tyneside home while their month-old baby slept in the same room, a court heard.
Joshua Kerr, 28, twice pushed her into a bedroom wardrobe of her Hebburn abode after they fell out over their parenting duties after downing Prosecco. Kerr, of St Peter’s Wharf, Wallsend, North Tyneside, then grabbed her by the neck in the kitchen at around 12.25am on Sunday, November 2.
The woman told police Kerr, her partner of two years and with whom she has a second tot, exploded after accusing her of not believing he had fed the baby. In a statement to police, the woman said the pair had shared three bottles of Prosecco in celebration of her moving into a new house.
She described him as being “very drunk” and becoming “verbally abusive” and accusing her of thinking him a bad dad. Of the first attack, she said, “He grabbed me around the neck with his left hand and pushed me forcefully into the wardrobe. This caused me to lose balance and fall to the floor. He grabbed me again by the neck and pushed me into the wardrobe.”
Prosecutor Glenda Beck told the hearing: “The youngest child was in the same room. The other child was with her mother. Throughout, he was asking her if she thought she was clever. She then went to the kitchen, and he came down one minute later.”
Mrs Beck confirmed that while standing next to the kitchen sink Kerr took hold of the woman’s throat. At South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court, Kerr, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to assault by beating in relation to the bedroom attack.
He admitted a charge of intentional strangulation in relation to the kitchen incident. Alastair Naismith, defending, said only: “It’s going to need a pre-sentence report.” District Judge Zoe Passfield ordered a report, and Kerr will be sentenced at the same court on Wednesday, November 26.
She granted him bail on condition he has no contact with the woman except via a third party for child contact and stays away from a specific part of Hebburn.