A man assaulted the mother of his child, ‘appeared’ in her house and attempted to call her hundreds of times a day, a court heard.
Daniel Carroll, 26, pleaded guilty to harassment and two counts of assault by beating on 1 March. He appeared before Swindon Magistrates’ Court this week for sentencing.
It’s the Crown’s case that on two dates in September and December last year, the defendant, of Rope Walk, Melksham, assaulted his ex-girlfriend.
On one occasion, he’s said to have grabbed his victim by the throat in front of the pair’s young daughter. In the other incident, he’s said to have pushed her backwards resulting in a minor injury to her buttocks.
Between 1 February 2020 and 17 January 2021, Carroll harassed his ex-girlfriend by texting her and calling her repeatedly on a withheld number, despite being told to stop contacting her unless it was regarding their daughter, but even then, the conversations spiralled onto other matters and into aggression.
Most notably, on 14 January this year, the defendant’s victim received 640 missed calls. Over the next two days, she received another 424 calls from a withheld number.
The court also heard how Carroll had turned up at her address without an invite. One day, his victim was in bed with her daughter and dog when the dog began growling. She sat up, looked out of her bedroom door and saw him standing at the top of her stairs – she was said to be frightened by this.
Carroll had no previous convictions and was of previous good character.
Magistrates imposed a 12-month community order including 50 hours of unpaid work and 35 rehabilitation activity requirement days to complete the Building Better Relationships Programme.
They also imposed a one-year restraining order on Carroll, preventing him from contacting his victim directly or indirectly. He was ordered to pay a fine of £146, costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £90.
