Man sentenced for breaking court order (From York Press)

Stephen Barry Reynolds sentenced for breaking court order

7:55am Thursday 20th September 2012 in News By Megi Rychlikova, megi.rychlikova@thepress.co.uk

A MAN has been sentenced after breaking a court order banning him from contacting his estranged girlfriend.

Stephen Barry Reynolds appeared in Tracey Hewitt’s bedroom in the early hours, ignoring the county court order which had been made to protect her from him.

Reynolds has previously assaulted Ms Hewitt, causing actual bodily harm, attacked another partner and been violent in front of children, York Crown Court heard.

Simon Reevell, prosecuting, said at 2.15am on November 2, Ms Hewitt woke to find Reynolds in her bedroom, despite the county court making an order in June 2011 forbidding him from contacting her in any way. It was the second time he had broken the order.

Recorder James Hill QC said: “He doesn’t seem to get it. He doesn’t seem to understand why court orders are put in place.”

He gave Reynolds a 35-week prison sentence, suspended for two years on condition Reynolds does a domestic violence rehabilitation course and two years’ supervision.

The judge heard that if Reynolds was sent straight to jail, he would be released quickly because he had spent 11 months on a court curfew before trial.

He also made a restraining order that banned Reynolds indefinitely from going near Ms Hewitt’s home or being violent towards her.

Reynolds, 48, of Hawthorn Terrace, New Earswick , pleaded guilty to breaking the non-molestation order.

Mr Reevell said when Ms Hewitt was woken by Reynolds in her bedroom, she dialled 999 on a mobile phone. The police control operator on the other end heard shouts and screams.

Ms Hewitt said she had “booted” Reynolds out of her home and that she was “throwing his bicycle after him”. She also told police he had pulled her hair when he grabbed the phone from her ear.

Chloe Fairley, for Reynolds, said Ms Hewitt had repeatedly texted Reynolds asking him to ring her since the incident and he had not physically harmed her.

Since his arrest, he had been suffering from depression and as a result was out of work.