Kirkby man assaulted ex’s dad with homemade baseball bat

Michael Morley's girlfriend walked out of their four-year relationship in September last year after ‘failing to help him conquer his drug addiction’, prosecutor Almas Ben-Aribia said.

He threatened to destroy her belongings and she took her father when she collected them from their Brook Street flat in Sutton on October 5 last year because she was ‘frightened of his reactions’.

When she confirmed she was leaving, Morley began tormenting her father asking: "What the f*** are you doing here - looking big and hard?"

Morley punched her father in the mouth, causing it to bleed, and he was put in a headlock until he calmed down.

But as soon as he was released he went into the kitchen and grabbed two or three knives, saying, ‘I am going to f*** you up’.

Morley pushed his ex as she left and minutes later followed them into the street, swinging a homemade wooden bat and challenging her father.

CCTV recorded Morley as he roamed up and down Brook Street, kicking his partner in the stomach when she tried to intervene and pacify him, Ms Ben-Aribia said.

Her father took refuge in a takeaway as Morley brandished the bat and at one point he hit him on the upper left thigh with it. He smashed the windscreen, headlight and side window of her father's van, causing £1,226 of damage.

"She was shouting for help all the while but to no avail," Ms Ben-Aribia told Nottingham Crown Court.

He has two previous convictions for making threats in September 2015 and possession of cannabis in March 2017.

Ben Robinson, mitigating, said references described Morley as ‘a passionate and devoted father with a heart of gold’ and his ex-partner said the majority of their relationship was ‘fun and mutually-supportive’.

But Morley relapsed into cocaine abuse in February 2020, he said, and ‘this snowballed into erratic and paranoid behaviour’.

Morley, 28, of Kingsway, admitted possessing an offensive weapon, four counts of assault and criminal damage, on January 6.

Recorder Jennifer Jones imposed an 18-month community order, with 80 hours of unpaid work and 21 rehabilitation days. He was ordered to pay costs and compensation.

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