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Attacker fails in sentence fight
A SOUTH Tyneside man who broke a teenager’s nose and posted threats on Facebook after the death of his own baby has failed in a bid to win a lighter sentence.
Alan Smith, 30, of Greenlands, Jarrow, was jailed for three years at Newcastle Crown Court in October last year after he admitted making threats to kill and assault by beating.
Three senior judges at London’s Court of Appeal rejected claims that the death of his son shortly before the offences entitled him to a shorter prison term.
Mrs Justice Dobbs told the court how Smith’s son died tragically shortly after his birth in June last year.
Two days later, Smith was seen camping in a park by a group of teenage boys who approached him.
Smith emerged from his tent and grabbed one 14-year-old boy roughly by the collar, saying “I’ve lost my son”, the court heard.
The boy suffered a broken nose in the incident which bled for a week, and needed hospital treatment, the judge said.
When his partner chose to live away from him, Smith sent her text messages threatening to kill her, social workers and his probation officer, the court heard.
Trauma
Smith, who had previous convictions for threatening behaviour and criminal damage, posted similar threats on Facebook, the judge said.
Peter Schofield, for Smith today, claimed he should have received a shorter jail term because of the stress he was under after the death of his son.
Mr Schofield said: “He was ill-equipped to deal with such trauma, and his actions over the two days suggest bizarre behaviour on his part.”
But Mrs Justice Dobb, sitting with Lord Justice Jackson, ruled that the circumstances did not excuse the threats, some of which were made against people “doing their public duty”.
She said: “While there is no doubt he had been affected by the loss of his baby, and upset that his partner had decided to move away from him, it is to be noted that the reason he gave was anger with social services and the probation officer, rather than any grief over the child.
“However, this mitigation cannot justify such conduct,
“Although we accept that there was mitigation, the mitigation was substantially outweighed by the aggravating factors.”
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Weather for Jarrow
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 9 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North east
