Man jailed for attacking baby

Man jailed for attacking baby

7 March 2012

A KILLYLEAGH man has begun a 13-month prison sentence for assaulting his former partner and their infant daughter in a drunken attack described as “deeply evil” by a local judge.

Twenty two year-old Lee Medwell ripped a door off its hinges and threw it at his ex-partner, hitting their baby daughter and causing an open wound to her head.

He then continued to attack his ex-girlfriend as she attempted to treat the child’s wound in the bathroom, leaving her with extensive bruising across her body.

The attack, on April 30 last year, came to an end when the woman fled after her mother arrived at the house and distracted Medwell.

Sentencing Medwell at Thursday’s sitting of Downpatrick District Court, District Judge John Meehan said he was concerned about the “cruelty and depravity to which he subjected an 18-month old baby.”

Describing domestic violence as a “horribly destructive force”, Judge Meehan said perpetrators can “only expect prison” when they beat women and children.

Judge Meehan initially sentenced Medwell to nine months imprisonment for the attacks, but this was increased by Judge David Smyth QC at Downpatrick County Court on Monday when Medwell appealed his sentence.

At the appeal, Judge Smyth echoed Judge Meehan’s comments when he too warned that domestic violence would not be tolerated by the courts.

The court heard that Medwell, of Strangford Avenue, had become enraged on a night out with his former partner and mutual friends in a Belfast nightclub the night before the attacks.

He went into a “strop” when he overheard one of the other girls invite his ex on a night out for single women and pulled her to the side to warn her she would not be going out with a group of single girls. He was later thrown out of the nightclub by bouncers when he attempted to drag his former partner out of the premises.

Six or seven hours later, he took a taxi to a house he previously shared with the woman in Downpatrick where he carried out the serious assault against his former partner and his baby girl.

Medwell’s barrister said her client believed his drink had been spiked at the nightclub because there was a significant portion of the incident that he could not remember. She said he only “came to” on his way to Downpatrick in a taxi.

She said he was sorry for his “irrational and aggressive behaviour” and said her client suffered from ADHD.

But Judge Meehan said he did not believe Medwell was remorseful and said the defendant refuted that his behaviour could have long-term effects on his children.

“This is a serious assault on a baby when he went in to be violent against his partner,” he said.

“Domestic violence is a cancer in the community. There are more complaints of domestic violence than road traffic collisions in Northern Ireland.

“It is a horribly destructive force.”