A man has been jailed after battering his sister while on the phone to their dad. Thomas Parker's sister said she still loves him but doesn't trust him anymore after the incident, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Liverpool Crown Court heard the assault occurred earlier this year when Parker, who suffered from alcohol addiction, had started drinking while watching football. At around 8pm on September 4, 2022, he visited his sisters home and continued drinking with her til around 11pm.
The 34-year-old told his sister he was going into town but returned 15 minutes later with two men he claimed to have met in the street. At 4am on September 5, the victim found her brother in the bathroom, where he was 'holding his head'.
He said he was 'going to batter those two lads'. Parker left the property again for around 40 minutes before returning and verbally abusing both his sister and her son.
The defendant then attacked his sister, strangling her, punching her, and pinning her down on the sofa. The victim's teenage son called his grandad, Parker's father, who attempted to calm the defendant down.
However, he continued his assault, holding the phone in one hand as he punched his sister repeatedly with the other. Mr Paul Blasbury, prosecuting, said: "She was on the settee cowering, trying to cover her head with her arms.
"He had all his weight on her so she was pinned down and couldn't move. She described him with the phone in one hand and hitting her with the other hand.
"She describes feeling the worst pain she had ever felt in her left arm... Her arm was throbbing and hurting and it was effectively flopping at an angle and she knew it was broken."
Parker pleaded guilty to strangulation and grievous bodily harm. Mr Jim Smith, defending, said: "The defendant is sorry for carrying out this appalling attack on a member of his family, that will have continuing effects on the family, and of course his sister for the rest of her life."
The prosecutor confirmed the sister felt the assault was still troubling her and had caused a rift in the family. He said: "She feels disappointed that her brother has assaulted her.
"She knows it's going to have a lasting effect on the family and will probably split the family apart. She doesn't think she's going to have any relationship with her brother as a result of this.
"She loves him but she doesn't trust him."
Judge Clement Goldstone QC said: "He's sorry now. He's a great pity he didn't have the guts to apologise for what he did after he did it."
He sentenced Parker to 33 months in prison for grievous bodily harm, and 18 months for strangulation, to run concurrently. He was also subjected to a restraining order forbidding him from approaching his sister.
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