A man who held his ex-partner and children hostage stood on their roof and flung tiles at police officers while demanding cigarettes and McDonald's.
Paul Rutledge, of Terrace Road, Widnes, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court this afternoon, Tuesday, July 4 to be sentenced for a number of charges that related to an "extraordinary" five-hour standoff with police. On March 21, Rutledge, 32, tried to enter the house of his ex-partner Sarah McPartland who lived on Frederick Street, Widnes.
Rutledge, who was under a restraining order stopping him contacting his ex-partner, arrived at her house in the early hours of the morning and started banging on her door. He repeatedly shouted her name - and only stopped when she held up her phone to the downstairs' window showing him she was calling the police.
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The police call handler, who was speaking to Ms McPartland, then told her Rutledge had gone onto her roof. Joanne Moore, prosecuting, told the court "Ms McPartland was trapped inside". A huge emergency response was called to the scene, close to Widnes town centre, including around 40 police officers, many of them in riot gear.
Rutledge started throwing roof tiles at the officers - and they were forced to form a human shield to help Ms McPartland and her children, aged between one and 15, out of their house. Ms Moore told the court the children were "fearful" and "crying".
The court then heard Rutledge started targeting neighbours' houses, smashing tiles off the roofs and throwing them at cars on the street below. One neighbour, Gary Riley, got a phone call from police officers telling him to go downstairs as the defendant was claiming to have a knife and was attempting to break holes in the roof.
Ms Moore told the court Rutledge successfully broke through the roof of elderly neighbour Brian Whitefield and managed to steal a quantity of cash. He then proceeded to shout down to the police officers to go and buy him cigarettes and a McDonald's.
Rutledge laughed at Mr Whitefield and shouted at him "I hope you have insurance". Police officers Lee and Teasdale, who attended the scene in response, said the defendant was "shouting and swearing" and threw at least six tiles at the officers. Officer Teasdale was hit by a tile - and despite wearing full riot gear suffered a minor injury. Another officer was also racially abused by Rutledge.
The court heard the emergency response was "resource intensive" and included North West Ambulance Service, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service and Cheshire Constabulary. The local authority also had to deploy a tractor to the area to clear the extensive debris.
Video footage played in court showed the defendant on a roof missing a significant amount of tiles. The court heard multiple victim impact statements including Ms McPartland's. She said her ex-partner's actions were "unforgiveable" - and added: "The long term effect from this is if the children hear a loud noise or bang they ask 'is that daddy on the roof?'"
Ms Moore said Rutledge had 55 previous offences, most recently a stalking offence which resulted in the restraining order. She told the court the compensation in this case was in the "tens of thousands" - but the judge said it would not be realistic in this case.
In mitigation, Mark Shanks, defending, said the defendant had been staying at his mum's house at the time of the offence. He said the pair had a falling out which resulted in Rutledge storming out the house. When he returned his mum was not there, but unbeknown to him she had gone out to buy provisions for her son who was on a crack cocaine bender which meant he had not slept for a number of days.
Mr Shanks said this caused his client to go to his ex-partner's house. He told the court Rutledge now accepts he should have left and cannot give any reason why he went up onto the roof. Rutledge has since shown a considerable amount of remorse, his defence said, both to the victims and the wider public.
Mr Shanks said his client was "disgusted with himself for the trauma caused to his children" - and "hopefully one day they will see daddy as a positive figure". He intends to make contact with them in the future through the proper channels.
The defence finished by acknowledging Rutledge is "not a young man and cannot be behaving in this childish way". Mr Shanks said: "He buried his head in the sand and chose to dig himself in further. The pictures and images speak for themselves." He assured the judge Rutledge wants to get himself back on track and now sees a bright future for himself.
Honour Judge Stuart Driver KC sentenced Rutledge to a number of charges which included criminal damage, affray, breaching his restraining order and racially aggravated public order. Judge Driver told Rutledge: "You held your ex-partner and children prisoner in their own house" - and added: "You caused extensive damage to the property of innocent neighbours."
Rutledge, who had his head shaved and wore a black sweatshirt, attempted to interrupt the judge on at least one occasion during the sentencing. Judge Driver told Rutledge he has a "terrible record and was a high risk of causing severe harm to the public".
Rutledge was sentenced to 40 months imprisonment for which he will serve half. A new restraining order was also imposed which will run until further notice. When he was sent to the cells, Rutledge turned and thanked the judge.
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