Leeds thug cowered in sleeping child's bedroom after police arrived to arrest him
A thug banned from contacting his partner after a vicious assault was later found at her address, hiding in a child’s bedroom.
Police turned up at her home in Cross Green after being tipped off about Dale Hunt’s presence, Leeds Crown Court heard.
They found him upstairs cowering in a cupboard of a sleeping child’s bedroom, putting him breach of a restraining order issued by the courts.
Hunt had been handed a 21-month suspended sentence in May for attacking the woman, dragging her around by her hair and ripping clumps from her scalp.
He also pushed her against a wardrobe and put his hands around her throat leaving her struggling to breathe.
Hunt, of Hampton Court, Richmond Hill, had also been given a two-year restraining order to keep him away from the woman.
It was heard that on July 19, the police received a call tipping them off that Hunt was at the woman’s home. He was overheard in the background while she was on the phone.
Hours later, the police attended her home. She let them in and when they asked if he was there, she said: “You can check if you want.”
They then found him in the cupboard as the child slept nearby.
During his police interview he said he had been invited by his partner and it was the first time he had visited the address since the order was imposed.
Appearing in court via video link from HMP Doncaster, he admitted breaching that order.
Mitigating, Tonicha Allen said he entered an early guilty plea and maintains he was only there for 40 minutes.
She added: “He accepts he has to abide by the order.”
The judge, Recorder Tom Little KC said he must impose a custodial sentence for Hunt, adding: “To do otherwise rides roughshod over the order the court has made.”
He activated the full 21-month suspended sentence, and gave him an additional month for the breach, meaning a total of 22 months.