Weapons including baseball bats, a machete, bricks, a frying pan and a garden edging tool were used when violence erupted late at night on a Grimsby street, a court heard.
A woman suffered a fractured skull and appeared dead in the street when she was struck with the blade of the edging tool in a revenge attack following a string of violent attacks in Grimsby. Ashley Hutchison, 35, of Earl Street, Grimsby admitted maliciously wounding the woman with intent on April 15, 2022 on Milton Road, Grimsby.
CCTV footage was shown at Grimsby Crown Court of Hutchison using a machete to smash in the windows of a car which had stopped outside his friend’s house. The force was so great the machete handle came off. Hutchison went to get another weapon and found a gardening tool. You can sign up to our regular Crime and Punishment newsletter here.
Ashley Hutchison has been jailed for repeatedly ignoring a restraining order
(Image: Humberside Police)
There was a harrowing sound of the edging tool breaking the skull of the woman. Hutchison was heard saying “S**t. I’ve killed her. Please get up. Ring an ambulance.”
He then attempted to revive her and was seen cradling her. The men the woman arrived with in a car, sped off before the arrival of emergency services, leaving her behind lying in the road.
Senior Crown Advocate, Jeremy Evans told the court: “It beggars belief that the males got in the car and drove off.” She required emergency surgery lasting eight hours to treat a bleed on her brain and was in hospital for two months.
In her victim impact statement, the woman said: “Trying to comprehend how much my life has changed since the attack not only gives me anxiety but a severe headache, which is something that I suffer with daily. My dreams of becoming a process operator have been completely shattered and my future prospects are limited and I am no longer the person I once was and that is something I am coming to terms with, along with my family.”
She told how her younger son fears being with his mother in case she suffers a seizure due to epilepsy. Her elder son does not leave her side.
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(Image: GNP Images/Duncan Young)
The young mother told how she was left with severe brain injury. That initially left her unable to speak. She said she struggles to express herself verbally. Her children had witnessed her epileptic seizures which has traumatised them, she said.
She is unable to drive for risk of seizure. “Before my injury, I was confident and outgoing. But these days, I live in fear of most things, walking down the street, being one of them,” she said in her victim impact statement.
She added: “I am often told that I am lucky to be alive. But I don’t feel lucky. But I am grateful. Grateful to be alive and I continue to try my best everyday for the sake of my family.”
Mr Evans explained a timeline of events which led to the brutal violence in Milton Road. Earlier the woman and relatives had been at The Bank pub in Bethlehem Street when violence erupted in the toilets.
Judge Richard Woolfall said he accepted Hutchison had taken the role of peacemaker in the disturbance which later spilled outside on to Station Approach. CCTV footage showed him squaring up to a man with two prosthetic legs who was pinned to the ground.
No complaint was issued following that violence which flared at around 11pm, the court heard. But within an hour CCTV footage from residents in Milton Road showed a car pull up outside the home of a friend of Hutchison.
He had just been told that his own house had been targeted by a gang with bricks thrown through windows, and believed those in the car were responsible. He ran to it with a machete and smashed the car windows repeatedly.
He shouted at the occupants about his disgust that his family home where his children were relaxing had been targeted by men with baseball bats and bricks. Several windows were shattered and one of the children suffered a cut due to the amount of broken glass.
Mr Evans said Hutchison shouted at the occupants: “You smashed my kids’ house.” The senior prosecutor presented the edging tool to the judge to examine the implement which is used for cutting turf on a lawn.
“It has been driven into the skull of the victim,” said Mr Evans. He told the court Humberside Police listed Hutchison as a wanted individual for sometime until he was later arrested. He added: “The history of this case is worrying and she remains in fear.”
For Hutchison, Simon Reevell told: “This violence came to him.” He added: “His conduct there after was excessive self-defence.” He said his client is remorseful.
Mr Reevell said: “The upset caused to his children caused him to over react. If this car had not arrived. If those bricks had gone through his windows, he would have sat at home with his children watching TV. It was those men with bats throwing bricks who took the trouble to him.” He presented references on behalf of his client.
Judge Woolfall said Hutchison had intended to cause really serious harm to the victim.
He jailed Hutchison for six years. He will serve four years before being released on licence. The judge imposed a restraining order on him not to contact the victim, directly or indirectly and the order will last 10 years.
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