Northumberland man jailed after assaulting police officers called to his former partner's Sunderland home

Shane Aynsley’s defence that his actions may in part have been the result of him suffering from undiagnosed autism, did not spare him a 14-week prison term.

South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court was told Aynsley, 25, at first tried to hide under a bed at his ex-girlfriend’s property in the city when police turned up looking for him after he breached a restraining order by going there.

But he did not go quietly, instead jumping onto the bed and trying to flee when officers were directed to his upstairs hiding place by the terrified woman motioning them there silently.

Prosecutor Clare Irving told South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court that toy shop worker Aynsley, of Disraeli Street, Blyth, had gone to the property unannounced and in breach of a restraining order.

She said: “The door was locked but it was like someone was trying to walk in. She’s opened the door and the defendant is there. He stormed in.

“He kept saying, ‘I want to explain things’. He told her to close the door and he went upstairs hide.

“The officers said that they were there to get him. She told the officers that he wasn’t there, but she indicated that he was upstairs.

“He runs from the bedroom. He struggles violently, he’s desperately trying to escape. He was acting so violently that it was impossible to arrest him.”

Mrs Irving said one of the officers realised they were heading towards the stairs, but neither could take decisive action to restrain Aynsley due to the nature of the incident.

She added: “They lost their footing and they fall down a flight of stairs. All three fell down. The defendant fell onto one of the PC’s midrifts.”

The court heard Aynsley, who has an eight-month-old child with his former partner, continued to struggle downstairs, leading the officers to summon backup.

The incident left one suffering soreness to his ribs, groin and bruising to an elbow, and the other abrasions and soreness to his left elbow and bruising and soreness to his left hip.

Ainsley had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to two charges of assault by beating against two officers, breaching a restraining order and commissioning a further offence during the period of a suspended sentence order.

John Wesencraft, defending, said Aynsley had been diagnosed with autism since the offences were committed and was taking steps to turn his life around including finding work with Smyths toys in Wallsend.

Mr Wesencraft said his client had become confused at the restrictions around seeing his former partner, including her allegedly telling him the order had been lifted.

He added: “At the time, Mr Aynsley was unemployed and had no income and he has since been diagnosed with autism. The autism is an issue here that was not known about until very recently.

“All in all, you take what she was saying to him that the order had been lifted. He was confused. I think this is a function, a result, of the autism that has recently been diagnosed.

“He’s trying to get his life in order. I think you can say there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation here.”

Deputy district judge Arlegh Davies sentenced Aynsley to eight weeks imprisonment for the restraining order breech and two weeks for the assault on one of the PCs, to run consecutively.

For the second police assault, he was given a two-week sentence to run concurrently and a further four weeks to run consecutively for activation of a suspended sentence.