A man who attacked his girlfriend's sister face with a hammer as two young children were in the house has been jailed. Andrew Kirby, 31, attacked Leah Sharelle with the weapon in her home in Liverpool last October after she had got into an argument with her sibling, Emma, Kirby's partner.
Leah was woken at her Glebe Hay address by the thug and his brother at 3am, who then proceeded to verbally abuse her and her partner, Ricky Kilvington. The victim screamed "get away from [my] house" as her children, aged 3 and 14 were present.
Ricky was in possession of a hammer, which Kirby managed to take from him during a scuffle in the front garden. The brute then smacked Leah in the face with the blunt tool. Stunned Leah was able to throw a punch at Kirby in retaliation, who fell over a wall and fled with his brother, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Kirby appeared at Liverpool Crown Court this week charged with one count of wounding, pleading guilty via videolink. The man, who appeared via video link on Thursday pleaded guilty to the charge.
David Watson, prosecuting said: “Ms Sharelle describes herself, in order to protect her partner, fighting in the front yard with the defendant and throwing him to the floor. Leah Sharelle then describes the defendant standing up from the floor armed with a hammer, and hitting her once in the face with it. She then punched the defendant in the face in self defence, causing him to fall over a wall.”
Ms Sharelle suffered a bi-lateral fracture to her nose, a wound to her lip and left eye, and bruising and swelling to her left foot. Kirby was arrested on October 23, 2022, and accepted he attended the address but denies hitting the victim with a hammer.
A personal statement from Ms Sharelle told of the long-term impact the attack had left on her, she said: “I do not go out any more due to the scarring on my face, I feel ugly. I don’t want to be looked at, this is not what I wanted for my life."
She told of the decision made to move her family out of the area because of the attack, she claims her children have been affected by the ordeal. Kirby has 23 convictions for 33 offences, including two convictions for battery in 2019 and 2021.
Kate Morley, defending, said: “He accepts that his actions were wholly disproportionate, Mr Kirby has expressed regret for his behaviour. It was a weapon produced by the partner and he picked it up from the ground on impulse, and it was one blow.” Ms Morley revealed to the court that Kirby had been diagnosed with ADHD and has issues with his mental health.
Judge David Aubrey KC said: “She is a vulnerable woman and she was in her own home when your client and his brother turned up.” The judge noted that this was Kirby's third time in court for an attack on a woman, and has been deemed at a high risk of harming a known person or a future partner. He was sentenced to 29 months in prison and a given a restraining order, barring him from contacting the victim for ten years.
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