Joshua Hammond: Sheffield thug attempted to strangle and suffocate parents in booze and crack-fuelled rage

A 'violent' Sheffield man who strangled his mother and attempted to suffocate his father, while in a booze and crack-cocaine fuelled rage, has been jailed. 

Sheffield Crown Court heard how in the minutes leading up to the attacks carried out by defendant, Joshua Hammond, on November 11 and 12, 2022, he had consumed alcohol and crack-cocaine; and had become frustrated after being unable to speak to his daughter over the telephone.

Summarising the case, the judge, Recorder Geraldine Kelly, told 24-year-old Hammond: "On November 11, 2022 while under the influence of alcohol and crack cocaine, you became overwhelmed with frustration when you couldn’t use your phone to contact your daughter.”

It was at this point that Hammond, of Raisen Hall Road, Longley, Sheffield became violent towards his parents, the court heard, during a hearing held on August 31, 2023. 

“They must have been terrified and heartbroken,” Recorder Kelly said, adding: “You returned to your home, and in the kitchen you approached your mother from behind, grabbing her by her hair, throwing her to the ground, placing both hands to her throat and beginning to strangle her.”

Recorder Kelly said Hammond’s father responded to the strangulation attempt by trying to push Hammond off, causing Hammond to focus his attention on his father instead.

The court was told that Hammond placed a carrier bag over his father’s face and ‘pulled it tight covering his mouth’. 

Recorder Kelly said the ordeal lasted for around ‘10 seconds’ and only came to an end when Hammond’s father removed the bag himself.

Hammond fled the property prior to police being called, and arriving on the scene; but he returned the following day (November 12, 2022) in the ‘knowledge that police must be looking for him’. 

Hammond’s parents had locked the doors of the family home to keep him out, but he managed to gain access to the property through an ‘insecure window…having been refused entry,’ the court heard. 

Recorder Kelly continued: “Your father was scared you would assault him, he had every reason to be…you made various threats to him about being a ‘grass’ and why he had done what he had done, as though it was his fault, not yours. 

“You grabbed him by the neck and repeatedly called him a 'grass' and assaulted him. You threatened him with a carving knife.”

Recorder Kelly noted that Hammond's parents did not support his prosecution, and would have preferred for him to have been dealt with in the community instead of receiving more prison time.

She continued: "I understand why they have taken that view. They’re your mum and dad, they love you and I can’t imagine any parent wanting their child to stay in custody.”

“At the same time...it’s not your parents’ decision to make about whether or not you are prosecuted. It’s the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) who make that decision.”

“It’s clearly in the public interest [for you to be prosecuted] with your background of violence.”

Hammond, of Raisen Hall Road, Longley, Sheffield pleaded guilty to charges of non-fatal strangulation; intentional suffocation; intimidation and threatening with a bladed article in a private place at an earlier hearing.

The court was told that Hammond has a criminal record spanning 25 offences from nine court appearances, and was the subject of a community order and suspended sentence for assaulting emergency workers at the time of the offences committed against his parents.

Referring to a pre-sentence report drafted on Hammond’s behalf, Recorder Kelly said the author of the report had assessed him to pose a ‘medium risk’ of re-offending, but found he posed a ‘serious risk of harm to known individuals’. 

“That much is clear from your behaviour last November,” Recorder Kelly said. 

Hammond pleaded guilty to charges of non-fatal strangulation; intentional suffocation; intimidation and threatening with a bladed article in a private place at an earlier hearing. 

Turning to Hammond’s mitigation, Recorder Kelly said he had endured a ‘difficult start in life with a traumatic childhood,’ the impact of which has continued to affect him as an adult. 

“You have suffered with it, and the effects of alcohol and drugs,” Recorder Kelly told the court, adding that Hammond has also been living with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) since he was a child. 

Passing sentence, Recorder Kelly jailed Hammond for 42 months and told him: “Your offending is clearly so serious that only custody is justified, even taking the wishes of your parents into consideration."