Kettering man hit partner with baseball bat after argument about funeral

A Kettering man struck his partner with a baseball bat four times after they argued because she couldn’t go to his dad’s funeral.

Tim Tomkinson launched the attack while his victim, who he had been in a relationship with for 15 months, was on the sofa at his Washington Square home.

She managed to escape the property before shouting for help and was taken to hospital where scans revealed that, thankfully, she had suffered no broken bones.

On Friday (September 8) Tomkinson, 51, was handed a suspended prison sentence after admitting assault causing actual bodily harm.

Northampton Crown Court heard the incident took place in the early hours of December 28, 2021, and Tomkinson had been drinking.

Prosecutor Quiana Fitzpatrick said the pair spoke about New Year’s Eve, when Tomkinson’s father was due to be cremated, but his partner was unable to go to the funeral and they argued before she said she would sleep on the sofa. Double amputee Tomkinson, who listened to proceedings at the back of the court in his wheelchair, picked up a baseball bat and attacked her.

Ms Fitzpatrick said: “She says he was holding the bat with both hands, looked angry and had a gritted face.

"He held it up and hit it down with a hammer motion four times."

The victim was struck on the shoulder, leg and foot and tried to slip off the sofa. She managed to escape out of the property and shouted for help, with police arriving and arresting Tomkinson. The court heard that he admitted his crime on a basis of plea that his victim had pushed him and that he felt threatened, which the prosecution didn’t accept had happened.

His partner suffered a bruised upper arm, bruised shoulder area and red marks on her arm. Her knee was bruised and swollen, as was her foot, and she had to go to hospital but had no broken bones and was given pain relief.

Reading an impact statement, Ms Fitzpatrick said the victim is always looking over her shoulder and ‘thanks God’ that Tomkinson didn’t have the chance to put his prosthetic legs on.

She said: "It still causes her to be anxious."

The court heard Tomkinson has convictions for 15 previous offences including harassing his victim after the assault, with magistrates previously sentencing him to a community order.

Mitigating, Karl Wheeler urged the case for a suspended sentence and said Tomkinson engages in charity work, sponsors a local footballer by paying for their boots and is learning woodwork to provide tables and chairs for his community.

He said: "He is very sorry for the way he behaved in December 2021."

His Honour Judge David Herbert KC sentenced Tomkinson to 12 months in prison but suspended the sentence for 21 months.

He said: "I have decided that it's appropriate to suspend the sentence...because of your medical issues and because I am quite confident that you are in a position where you will respond well to rehabilitation."

Tomkinson must take part in rehabilitation activities and is banned from contacting his victim for five years through a restraining order.