Kettering thug breached court order the day after it was made

A Kettering thug who was given a last chance by magistrates is now behind bars – after breaching a court order the very next day.

Dale Richards was spared from custody on August 10 after admitting wounding, assault and criminal damage.

The 28-year-old was given a 20-week prison term, suspended for 18 months, and banned from contacting a woman he assaulted under a restraining order.

But despite being warned that he faced jail if he committed any further offences he breached the order on August 11 by contacting her and entering her address.

And Richards, of Arthurs Way, went on to breach it again days later by contacting her between August 15 and 17.

Last week he was hauled before Northampton Magistrates’ Court where he admitted two charges of breaching a restraining order – and this time JPs sent him straight to prison.

They activated all of his suspended sentence and added 38 weeks for his court order breaches, giving him a total prison sentence of 58 weeks. He will serve half in custody before being released on licence.

Richards was also ordered to pay costs of £85 and a surcharge to fund victim services of £187.

His previous suspended sentence came after he attacked a man in Athelstan Road in October last year, leaving him with facial injuries and a dislocated shoulder after punching him continually to the face.

He also damaged a police car and a woman’s Audi and grabbed another woman in June this year, causing bruising to her upper arm.