By Mother took refuge in butchers as knife-wielding ex threatened to kill her
A mother had to take refuge in a butcher’s shop after her ex-partner threatened to kill her following a Valentine’s Day row.
Callum Crossland, 29, punched the woman in the head which then collided with her six-month-old baby she was holding.
Crossland admitted to making threats to kill and two offences of assault on February 14 on Freeman Street, Grimsby.
The court heard how Crossland attended the home with a friend after they had been drinking. The friend went to bed leaving Crossland and his ex-partner arguing in the room.
The row escalated into violence as Crossland accused her of flirting with his friend.
The mother was then punched three times in the face before Crossland punched her in the head which then collided with the baby’s head.
The defendant then began wielding a large kitchen knife and the woman went to the window of the room to try to alert passers-by.
Crossland then turned on his friend and said “You are a grass. I will kill you.”
The woman then ran to the nearest butcher’s shop down Freeman Street for aid. Police arrested Crossland the following day.
The court also heard how Crossland had a pattern of violent behaviour having been convicted previously of assaulting an emergency worker.
The offence on February 14 put him in breach of his suspended sentence. He had also previously been sentenced to 54 months in prison for grievous bodily harm.
The defense argued that Crossland was threatening to injure himself with the knife and not others, adding that he was having an episode due to intoxication and his mental health problems.
Sentencing Crossland to two years and four months in prison, Judge Michael Fanning said he had caused the mother to be “petrified, fearing you would kill everyone including the six-month-old child.”
He added: “There is plenty of evidence children of that age sense danger and fear from incidents of this nature.”
The judge said the fear had forced the mother to leave the premises with her child. He ordered the defendant pay a surcharge of £190.
