Aston man jailed for three years for violent attack on woman

Terry Larkin (56), of Hardwick Lane, Aston, subjected the woman to a “serious and sustained act” in her own home which left her with 45 injuries.

He was jailed for three years at Sheffield Crown Court today after being convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm by a jury following a three-week trial.

Judge Michael Slater said: “Having looked at the injuries, this is one of the worst cases of assault occasioning actual bodily harm I have ever seen.

“The fact is that children were present at the time. A 16-year-old girl came upon her mother in an injured state shortly after the injuries had been inflicted.”

Judge Slater said Larkin had “forced the woman to strip to check her body to see if she had been with other men.”

Prosecutor Mr Ian West said the complainant had gone to a pub on November 11 last year to spend time with her family and friends, having “quite a lot to drink”.

After taking the woman home, Larkin had initially been “nice” but after forcing the woman to strip he slapped and punched her, sat on her stomach and squeezed her breast repeatedly.

Larkin also burned the woman twice with a cigarette, before dragging her upstairs and threatening to kill her.

The victim was left with fingertip marks around her neck, bruising and carpet burns.

He told the woman - who cannot be named for legal reasons - to explain the injuries by saying she had fallen down the stairs.

Larkin made no comment during a police interview but said in a prepared statement that he had picked the woman up and she had been “blind drunk”.

He claimed she had made sexual advances towards him but medical evidence supported the complainant's account.

Mitigating, Ms Amanda Johnson said sending Larkin to prison would have an impact on his close family and, other than one caution ten years ago, he had a clean criminal record.

The judge said he recognised Larkin had acted “out of character”, but added: “The fact is this was a serious and sustained act with cruel intent and the least sentence I can impose in respect of it is three years."

Larkin was cleared by the jury of two counts of assault by penetration.