A man who attacked his “on/off” partner after drinking heavily following a funeral last September has now been jailed after a further assault on Christmas Day.

Eamon John Graydon, 32, of Elm Terrace, Eldon Lane, near Bishop Auckland, pleaded guilty to charges of assault causing actual bodily harm, affray and common assault on the day he was to go on trial, at Durham Crown Court, earlier this month.

Martin Towers, prosecuting, told the sentencing hearing that Graydon had originally faced further charges, but after consultation with the victim of the assaults, his pleas were considered “acceptable” and the other originally charged offences were to be left to lie on the file.

Mr Towers said the background was an off/off relationship between Graydon and the assault victim going back to August 2021.

(Image: Durham Constabulary)

He told the court that following a funeral both attended on September 4 last year, they were in Willington in the early evening, having drunk heavily throughout the day.

The defendant “took exception” to a comment by his partner and elbowed her in the face, inflicting a cut near her left eye, which caused her to fall to the floor where she believed she may have “blacked out” for a short period.

When she got up, she attempted to flee, and, as she was chased by Graydon she heard male voices shouting to him: “You just hit her”.

Mr Towers said closed circuit tv footage showed blood flowing from an injury near her eye after being elbowed.

A couple out in Willington that evening saw the blood running down her face and reported it to police, describing the defendant “screaming and shouting” at the injured woman, who was “cowering, looking terrified”.

When spoken to by police she denied any assault had taken place, but when she later gave a statement, in early January this year, she said she had not been ready to end the relationship at the time.

Graydon also faced a charge of affray arising from other events on the evening of September 4, over a verbal confrontation of a woman, who described him as appearing “very drunk”, near the Market Place, in Crook.

Mr Towers said the defendant directed abuse and threats at the woman following an earlier incident where her mother had refused him entry to a pub.

The witness was very worried over what he said and so contacted police.

Graydon was originally charged with making threats to kill arising from the comments he made to the woman about her mother, but as part of the resolution of the case, a plea to affray was accepted by the Crown.

(Image: Durham Constabulary)

Referring to the final incident, Mr Towers said Graydon and his partner spent much of Christmas Day together but by 9pm there was a row during which the defendant, “used unlawful force to assault her.”

Mr Towers said the defendant did not accept the woman’s claim of strangulation or assault causing actual bodily harm but did admit common assault on the grounds he had not injured her.

In her impact statement, the victim said it reached the point where she did not feel safe with the defendant, all of which left her struggling with trust issues, adding that she did not feel like she could have other personal relationships.

Mr Towers said when he spoke to the victim at court when the case resolved, on July 8, she asked him to apply to have a restraining order put in place at the sentencing hearing.

The court heard that of the defendant’s 21 past convictions, eight feature offences of violence, dating back to 2007.

Mr Towers said it included, “significantly”, an assault against the same victim of the current offences, in September 2021, for which Graydon received a nine-month prison sentence.

The last assault conviction on his record, from February last year, led to the defendant receiving a 38-week prison sentence, suspended for two years, of which he is now in breach by virtue of the latest offences.

Calum McNicholas, representing Graydon, said he has been on remand in custody since January 18, during which time he has engaged with the alcohol and drug services, while taking advantage of courses on offer to inmates.

“It has led to a situation where, hopefully, the man leaving prison is very different to the man entering.

“He has never had a job before and his time in prison has given him a new outlook on life.

“Alcohol and drugs have been a trigger for these offences in the past and he has now taken steps to mitigate the prospect of that happening in future.”

(Image: The Northern Echo)

Recorder Edward Legard told Graydon that at the age of 32 he has, “a relatively poor record” featuring a number of assault offences.

“By September last year you had been in an on/off relationship for more than two years and you attended a funeral after which you had been drinking through the day.

“You took exception to something she said, and you elbowed her in the face, causing a nasty laceration and she may have passed out.

“She tried to run away, and you were witnessed by others dragging her like a rag doll with blood running down her face.

“She must have been utterly terrified by what was happening to her.”

The Recorder said it was followed by the later affray, with Graydon making threatening comments to the woman in Crook about her mother, and then the Christmas Day assault on his now ex-partner.

He told the defendant: “You have clearly had a major problem controlling your violent tendencies when in drink and in the company of a woman known to you.”

Recorder Legard described Graydon’s assault as, “cowardly unprovoked violence on a vulnerable woman.”

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​He imposed a total 22-month prison sentence, including the activation of six months of the previous suspended sentence.

A restraining order was also put in place, prohibiting the defendant contacting or approaching his ex-partner, “directly or indirectly”, for five years.

The time spent or remand by the defendant will be deducted from the sentence.