D-Day veteran watches from wheelchair as son and carer is locked up for attack on partner

Leonard Berry, from Liverton Mines, was convicted after bursting into his partner's home and repeatedly punching and kicking her

A D-Day hero watched from his wheelchair yesterday as his son was jailed for domestic violence.

Leonard Berry, 31, from Liverton Mines, was the carer for his father who was wounded during the landings while serving with the Black Watch.

Berry’s lawyer told Teesside Crown Court that he knew that the link itself could not save him from an immediate prison sentence.

His brother Clive has now taken over as carer, despite holding down a full-time job.

Berry was convicted after a four day trial last month of bursting into his partner's home in Loftus and repeatedly punching and kicking her in front of a young child and a woman friend.

He also threw a plastic box of toys at her hitting her, said prosecutor Christopher Baker.

The friend fled upstairs and phoned the police,followed by the frightened child. Berry ran out of the back door before police arrived at the house in Gladstone Street, Loftus.

The victim refused to give evidence against him, and she wrote to him in prison where he spent a month on remand, saying that she still counted herself as in a relationship with him.

Mr Baker said that Berry had ten convictions for 14 offences including a three year jail sentence in 2007 for aggravated burglary.

Tom Mitchell, defending, said that Berry had spent a lot of time caring for his father, adding: “I understand that the misfortune of others who are affected by a defendant’s wrong-doing cannot alone make a difference between a suspended and an immediate sentence.”

But he said that a suspended prison sentence with the maximum unpaid work would leave him with supervision and a threat hanging over him for two two years.

Mr Mitchell added: “In some ways it would be more of a punishment for him. It would allow him to get back to his father and to have a proper relationship with his children.”

The judge Recorder Patrick Palmer told Berry: “You must understand that offences of domestic violence are serious and demand a custodial sentence.

“I have a read a letter to you from (the victim) explaining that she still regards herself as in a relationship with you.

“It was a sustained attack and you used a shod foot to kick her.

“It seems to me it would not be right to suspend the sentence, and it would not be right because of the sustained attack.”

Berry, of Low Cleveland Street, Liverton Mines, was jailed for 12 months after he was found guilty of the December 7 actual bodily harm assault.