A nightmare neighbour violently attacked a woman just before Christmas after repeatedly demanding that she open her door and, when she refused, angrily smashing a window and climbing into her flat.
Aggressive and hot-headed John Hume threatened to smash her head in and viciously hit her in the head and dragged her around. He had been drinking and, at the time, was upset about the death of a dog and the disappearance of another, Hull Crown Court heard.
Hume, 44, of Willerby, but recently in custody on remand, admitted assaulting the woman, causing actual bodily harm, and causing criminal damage on December 23 last year. He pleaded guilty to the assault on the day of a scheduled trial.
Jazmine Lee, prosecuting, said that Hume and the woman were neighbours at the time and they were mainly friends. He lived in a flat above hers. Issues developed between them.
She was at home at 7pm when Hume tried to telephone her. “She decided to ignore him,” said Miss Lee. “She could hear the defendant outside her flat walking up and down, banging on her door saying that he wanted to talk to her.
“He seemed angry and seemed to be slurring his words. She continued to ignore him. He carried on shouting in the communal area.”
To try to defuse the situation, the woman decided to open the door slightly. “The defendant asked if he could come in,” said Miss Lee. The woman said “No” but Hume pushed past her into her flat.
He shoved her with force, causing her to stumble backwards. He knocked a picture off a wall before sitting down on the end of her bed. He repeatedly shouted at her and slowly got closer to her so that he was shouting in her face. “It caused her to fear him,” said Miss Lee. “She tried to shuffle backwards away from him. She asked him to leave.”
Hume became increasingly aggressive and knocked pictures off a wall and punched a TV, causing damage. He left the flat and the woman rushed to lock the door behind him.
“He continued to shout in the communal area of the flats and she could hear him kicking out at objects,” said Miss Lee. “In a short time, it went quiet. Some time later, the defendant became erratic again. He appeared to be even more angry than before.”
Hume again went to the woman’s flat and he shouted: “Open the f***ing door. If you don’t, I’ll smash your f***ing face in. If you don’t open your door, I’m coming through your window.”
He smashed the window while the woman was on the telephone to the police. He saw what she was doing and threatened her further and said that, if she was on the phone to the police, he would harm her. He managed to get in through the window and chased the woman through her flat before launching an attack on her.
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“He hit her in the head multiple times and dragged her around,” said Miss Lee. “As he was attacking her, he was verbally abusive to her and threatening to her.” He left and the police arrived shortly afterwards. “They noticed his erratic and aggressive behaviour,” said Miss Lee. “He had a knife in his hand on their arrival. He was arrested and transported to police custody.” The woman suffered bumps to her head and bruises on her face.
Hume had convictions for 57 previous offences, including six involving assaults and 15 of causing damage, between 2008 and last year. He was in breach of a 26-week suspended prison sentence imposed on August 13 last year for similar offences.
Jane Rapin, mitigating, said that Hume had been struggling with the loss of his dog a couple of days earlier. His other dog had gone missing and he went down to the woman’s flat but she refused to let him in because had been drinking. The situation escalated.
“He deeply regrets his actions towards somebody who had been his friend,” said Miss Rapin. He had been in custody since December.
Hume was jailed for two years and two months. He was given a seven-year restraining order.