Violent South Yorkshire offender’s 'frenzied attack' on ex-partner

A violent South Yorkshire offender launched a frenzied attack on his ex-partner before forcing her to lie to police and withdraw her statement against him, Sheffield Crown Court has heard.
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Police were called to her Askern Road home, in Doncaster, at 11.45pm on January 15, where officers found Richard Fox sitting in the garden, and demanding a bank card.

He became "irate and verbally abusive," punching one officer in the nose, and kicking one woman police officer in the head and another in the chest.

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Fox was Parva-sprayed and warned a Taser would be used before officers managed to handcuff him.

Sheffield Crown Court.Sheffield Crown Court.
Sheffield Crown Court.

He returned to the woman's address just before midnight on April 25, entering through the back door and sitting down next to her on the sofa.

He said he needed £100, and when she told him it wasn't her problem, he "went completely crazy," dragging her to the floor and launching a "frenzied attack" by punching her face six or seven times.

Fox's partner screamed for help and said she was "terrified" before Fox left her with a fractured cheekbone.

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After she told police about another violent attack in February, Fox put pressure on her to withdraw her statement, and waited outside the police station while she spoke to officers.

The court heard he was on bail for assaulting a video-link officer in HMP Doncaster on May 2, 2019. The officer was treated for concussion, and subsequently lost his job after signing off work for anxiety and depression.

The court heard Fox has 24 previous convictions, and was jailed for 54 months in 2004 for supplying drugs, and for 45 months in 2012 for grievous bodily harm.

Chris Aspinall, mitigating, said Fox's offending was driven by using heroin to "dull his senses" and "self-medicate" to control his violent tendencies.

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"He has now been prescribed antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs for the first time in his life and feels completely different."

He has started to study an Open University course on substance misuse and is acting as a mentor to other inmates.

Fox, aged 47, of Fisher Street, Doncaster, admitted four counts of assaulting an emergency worker, unlawful wounding and intimidating a witness.

Judge Michael Slater said it was a "sustained and violent attack" and sentenced Fox to a total of 32 months in prison.

Read the latest cases from Sheffield Crown Court here.

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