Thug sent to jail after attack with hammer

A man who attacked his partner with a hammer has been jailed for two years.
York Crown CourtYork Crown Court
York Crown Court

Daniel Dormer, 27, swung for her head but she blocked the blow and was hit on the arm, causing a gash which required six stereo strips.

It happened at their flat in Whitby where Dormer returned from a drinking session and started waving the hammer while barking threats at the victim and her friend.

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Following the attack, the blood-soaked victim fled and has since suffered severe psychological effects, York Crown Court heard.

Dormer was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm but admitted the offence only on the basis he was doing DIY and had not knowingly used the hammer to attack his partner.

Prosecutor Nicholas Rooke said during the incident, Dormer shouted absurd accusations and dire threats at the women and smashed the hammer on the living-room floor, causing a hole in the laminate.

Dormer’s case was that during a melee with the two women, his partner suffered the injury while trying to grab the hammer from him.

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But Judge David Batty QC rubbished this claim and said it was incontestable that Dormer, now of Wagtail Crescent, had deliberately aimed the hammer at his partner.

The victim, who has since left him, said she had to seek help from a mental-health team, take anti-depressants and had nightmares.

The court heard that Dormer had previous convictions for violence including assaulting a former partner and her mother in 2008. His most recent was for battery in November, when he attacked a work colleague while drunk and on bail for the hammer attack.

Last July, just months after the hammer attack, Dormer went to his ex-partner’s flat carrying a case of beer and shouting vile insults at her. He punched a car wing mirror which snapped off.

Defence barrister Victoria Hood said Dormer had a problem with relationships and losing his temper when in drink.

Dormer was jailed for 32 months and given a restraining order.

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