A man attacked his own sister after ‘losing his temper’, a court has heard. Christopher Parker lashed out at Joanne Taylor at her home where he had been staying with her for around 18 months.
Parker had been drinking Jack Daniels before the incident and is said to have a “selective memory” when it comes to the ordeal. The dad was told that he will be going to jail after a Teesside Crown Court judge rejected his basis of plea that he ‘elbowed her as he was going upstairs’ resulting in her tumbling down the stairs.
Judge Richard Bennett said that he gave “evasive evidence” during a Newton hearing at the Middlesbrough court for the assault occasioning actual bodily harm charge. The court heard that Parker, 41, hit his late sister after she fell to the bottom of the stairs and was kicking her while she was on the floor at her address in Ingleby Barwick, TeesideLive reports.
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Parker stated that his sister followed him into the kitchen, describing her as intoxicated and arguing with him as he went upstairs. He outlined that he elbowed her and she tumbled to the bottom of the stairs.
The Ingleby Barwick man stated that it was the “only physical contact between him and her” and denied kicking and punching Ms Taylor between December 22 and 25, 2022. The judge outlined the crown’s evidence against Parker explaining messages between Ms Taylor and Parker’s ex-wife.
Ms Taylor told how Parker had hit her, said he ‘couldn’t wait until she dropped down dead’ and told of her suspicions he’d be drinking. His ex-wife then messaged that she was coming to collect one of her children.
In a further message at 12.13am, Ms Taylor stated that she’d been kicked, punched and Parker had pulled her hair. She added that she had “significant swelling to her right eye”. Parker’s ex-wife advised her to call the police.
Body-worn footage showed Ms Taylor giving an account of the incident to police, outlining that her brother was ‘slapping her face, hitting her off the bannister’. She stated in the video: “I’m not bothered about my eye and mouth. It’s more my back, it’s where he was kicking me.” She added that Parker was “screaming at me to get back up”.
When asked by police if she was frightened, Ms Taylor replied: “Not really tonight, I have been before.” Judge Bennett stated that Parker was “slurring” his words after drinking Jack Daniels before the attack. He stated that the defendant had a “selective memory” and “at times untruthful”.
During evidence it was outlined that Parker stated he “kicked f*** out of her”, but the defendant responded that he said it in a “sarcastic way”. Judge Bennett ruled that Parker, of Barwick Lane, Yarm, Stockton, did assault his now late sister and was “under the influence of something at that time and lost temper”.
“I reject the defendant’s basis of plea,” he told the court. John Nixon, defending, asked for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.
Judge Bennett told Parker: “You will be sentenced on February 6. I warn you now you will be going to prison, the question is how long for.”