A man who believed two women were selling heroin to his brother hit one in the face with a spanner before dragging the other downstairs. Christopher Lewis, from Rossendale near Bury, told one of his victims 'you're dying' before dropping her on the kitchen floor.
The 38-year-old had gone to the house in Burnley, Lancashire, along with another man in the early hours of last June 3. Preston Crown Court heard how Lewis shouted up at the window of the property, on Pine Street.
When the first woman answered the door, Lewis struck her in the face with a spanner. He then hit her with the weapon for a second time while she was on the floor, Lancs Live reports.
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The court heard Lewis then went upstairs to confront the other woman. He dragged her out of a bedroom and down the stairs.
Lewis hit her to the rib cage, telling her 'you're dying', before dropping her on the kitchen floor. That victim managed to escape from the house and hid in bushes until Lewis left the house and she was able to return.
Both women went to hospital, with one being transferred to Royal Preston Hospital, where she remained for 11 days. She had fractures to two ribs and vertebrae and was already in poor health as she was recovering from pneumonia, the court heard.
A probation report said Lewis had turned his back on crime in the early 2000s and had started a family and built a business in the intervening years. "In recent times this conduct was out of character," his barrister Mr Jarvis said.
Lewis, of Highfield Park, Haslingden, pleaded guilty to GBH, ABH and possession of an offensive weapon on the basis he believed there was someone inside the house who was selling heroin to his brother. He went to remonstrate but the court heard things 'got out of hand'.
Judge Ian Unsworth KC sentenced him to five years and three months for GBH with 12 months for ABH and six months for possession of a weapon to run concurrently. He said: "Two women were set upon.
"This was, on any objective view, a terrifying incident for them, given the level of violence and threats that were used. On analysis, it was a relatively short lived incident, but never the less, one which has had a lasting effect on your victim."
However the judge said the woman did not need any further medical assistance after autumn last year. "This occurred in the early hours of the morning or at night", he said.
"It occurred in a home, which should be a safe haven and there were two victims." Judge Unsworth also made a 15 year restraining order banning Lewis from contacting either victim or going within 100m of Pine Street, Burnley.
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