Two prolific criminals have been jailed for fracturing a man’s jaw and cutting his face during an assault.
Glynn Threlfall, 24, and Robin Connolly, 26, entered the Church home of victim Carl Cooper’s girlfriend in the early hours of the morning to ‘talk to him’ but ended up attacking him on the bedroom landing.
Burnley Crown Court heard two children were woken by the attack and were left ‘extremely upset’.
Threlfall and Connolly, both of Henry Street, Church, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and were jailed for 19 months and 20 months respectively. They will serve half their sentence in custody.
The court heard that on August 20 last year the pair had visited the home of Mr Cooper’s girlfriend Paula Waghorn’s house on Barnes Street intending to confront Mr Cooper over a dispute about responsibility for a burglary.
Emma Kehoe, prosecuting, told the court that the incident began verbally but ‘escalated’ into violence.
She said: “All were asleep in bed when they heard banging on the front door. During the confrontation Mr Cooper received a fractured jaw and a cut above his eye. As a result of this incident the two children in the house were awoken and extremely upset as a result of this incident.”
Reading a victim statement by Mr Cooper, Ms Kehoe told the court that the injuries meant he struggled to eat and sleep, and had to have injections into his jaw for pain relief.
She said: “He is fearful of the defendants being released from court or prison because of what happened on that night. His relationship with girlfriend had changed. He feels he has to sleep downstairs to protect her.”
Sentencing the pair, who have a combined record of more than 100 offences, Judge Andrew Leeming: “It was foolish to go round in the early hours on the morning because your purpose was to confront Mr Cooper about a long standing dispute.
“At first it was verbal but descended into a violent altercation and you attacked Mr Cooper.
“He feels he is more of a bodyguard to his girlfriend, she fears violence from you and people like you two. The location and time and the presence of the children are aggravating factors of the offence.”
Judge Leeming also granted a two-year restraining order prohibiting contact between the defendants and Mr Cooper and Miss Waghorn.
Brendan O’Leary, defending Glynn Threlfall, told the court that he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder after suffering a double family bereavement.
He said: “Mr Threlfall clearly is someone who has had a troubled past evidenced by his antecedent record, it stems he tells me, from 2009 when his step mother and brother both passed away in the same year and that then in effect had a serious impact on his mental health.”
Neil Howard, defending Robin Connolly said he had ‘turned his back’ on offending until the suicide of his father in early 2016.
He said: “He took the death of his father very heavily and his drinking escalated. He had a partner of three and a half years, she has ended that relationship because of this incident.”
