Long-suffering mum choked, punched and terrorised by son in her Middlesbrough home

A mother thought she was going to die when her son choked, punched and terrorised her in her own home.

Alexander McPartland was banned from contacting his mother under a restraining order after he “went berserk” and robbed her in 2012.

She still took pity on her son when he was homeless, and let him stay at her Middlesbrough home last month.

“She felt she couldn’t see him on the street in the cold weather,” said prosecutor Paul Lee today.

He was not allowed in the house on his own and they argued when she caught him after he climbed in through a window.

He turned violent, putting his arm around her throat from behind and tightening his grip, choking her, Teesside Crown Court heard.

As she fell to the floor on her hands and knees, he told her: “You should just die.”

She struggled to breathe and thought she was going to die, said Mr Lee.

He added: “The only thing she could do was pretend to be unconscious in the hope that it would stop it. Fortunately it did.”

Mr McPartland then picked up a craft knife and made swiping motions in front of her neck.

She said his eyes were full of hatred and anger as he told her: “You deserve to be dead. I want to kill you.”

“She believed he was going to try to cut her throat,” Mr Lee told the court.

“Not content with that, he began to punch his mother to the face and head.”

Bleeding from a cut to her scalp, she calmed her son down and called the police.

She later said in a statement: “I just want to cry all the time. I don’t know why he’s always so violent to me. I can’t take it anymore.”

Mr McPartland, formerly of Delarden Road, Pallister Park, Middlesbrough, admitted assault causing actual bodily harm and two breaches of the restraining order.

He had drug problems since he was 13 and, in a long domestic violence history, most of his previous convictions were against his mum.

He was given a suspended sentence for violently robbing her of £45 from her bag in 2012.

He was sent to a young offenders’ institution after he beat her unconscious in her home in June last year.

He was given another suspended sentence in March this year after he kicked her door open to come in and brush his teeth.

Rachel Dyson, defending, said he was devastated by his “exceptionally violent and worrying” behaviour and understood the harm he had caused.

He had used drugs and alcohol excessively at the time but did not want to excuse his behaviour.

Ms Dyson said Mr McPartland was a “polite and intelligent young man” when sober, but had “deep-seated underlying issues” and needed counselling.

She added: “There is clearly a very, very difficult relationship between Mr McPartland and his mother.

“She felt she couldn’t see him on the street, then he effectively threw that good will back in her face by acting in this fashion.”

The judge, Recorder Graeme Cook, jailed Mr McPartland for 86 weeks.

Teen too scared to enter Redcar in case she sees man who sexually assaulted her in public park

A teen has been left terrified to enter a Teesside town in case she sees the man who sexually assaulted her in a public park.

The 17-year-old was groped on a bench on the junction of Corporation Road and Locke Park, near Redcar and Cleveland College, by Paul Owen in June.

Owen, 38, initially denied groping the teenage girl, claiming he was so drunk he couldn’t remember the sexual assault.

But before a trial last month, Owen changed his plea to guilty but maintained he had no recollection of the evening.

Teesside Magistrates’ Court heard a statement yesterday in which the victim described how the assault had left her terrified of meeting Owen again.

Reading the victim’s words, Joanne Hesse, prosecuting, said: “When the incident occurred, it didn’t sink in at the time. I was in shock.

“It was only after speaking to my mum that things started sinking in.

“I felt disgusting and violated.

“It’s not fair and it’s not right that this man can behave like he has.

“If I’m out on the streets, I’m terrified that I will see this man again. What if he can remember my face?

“I will not go into Redcar on my own. I’m cautious about men I don’t know.”

Last month the court heard how Owen sat next to the victim, who was with a friend, on a bench and produced a pack of condoms and said “do you want some of this?”.

Owen then went on to assault the girl.

Amy Dixon, defending, said Owen was “a man of good character with no previous convictions against him”.

“It has been difficult for Mr Owen to come to terms with his offending behaviour,” she said.

“I spoke with him in detail before that trial. As a result he had to accept that this young lady would not have made up these allegations against him.

“He couldn’t remember the evening in question. That is incredibly difficult for him to come to terms with.

“What he has always said is that he couldn’t believe he had acted in that way.”

Sentencing Owen, bench chairman, Alan Duckling, said that aggravating features included the age of the victim, the fact that the assault happened in a public place and that Owen had touched the victim three times.

Mr Duckling did however note that Owen was of previous good character, had no previous convictions and gave some credit for his guilty plea on the day of his trial.

Owen, of Oak Road, Redcar, was given a 24 month supervision order, a £110 fine, a £60 victim surcharge and £300 in compensation to the victim.

He was also ordered to pay £300 in costs for the trial that had been arranged following his previous not guilty plea.

Owen is now a registered sex offender subject to a notification requirement for five years.

Turkish minister: ‘We will drive Israeli soldiers out of Al-Aqsa with their shoes in their hands’

Turkish Minister for EU Affairs Volkan Bozkir expressed his anger and disapproval over the recent entry of Israeli troops to Al-Aqsa Mosque with their boots on.

“I want to direct my speech to the group of Israeli soldiers who entered Al-Aqsa with their shoes still on and say that if you do not leave Al-Aqsa as soon as possible, then we will force you out with your shoes in your hands and we will watch you as you walk away with your backs turned to us,” Bozkir added.

During his speech at a Justice and Development party conference in Burdur, Bozkir heavily criticised Israeli violations in Jerusalem as of late and the IDF’s decision to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque by saying that it is sacred to Turks as well as Arabs and other Muslims.

“Turkey has not allowed anyone to spoil the peace that we have achieved in Palestine to this day and we will not allow it from here on out,” he concluded.

Live: Breaking news, traffic and travel across Teesside

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Israeli forces order the arrest of toddler in Jerusalem

Palestinian Jerusalemite Bassam Zeidani confirmed that Israeli forces stormed his Jerusalem home yesterday and ordered the arrest of his nephew Hamza Zeidani, a child who is only two years old.

Zeidani added that Israeli forces entered his home with a warrant for Hamza’s arrest and when they saw that he was a toddler they proceeded to arrest his uncle, Mohammad Zeidani.

The president of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club Fares Qaddura said: “The so-called Israeli security establishment suffers from a sense of blindness, paranoia and obsession with security when it comes to Jerusalem and this has escalated to the point where today forces ordered the arrest of a baby.”

Qaddura warned that the continuation of such policies would mean that the brutal occupation no longer differentiates between children and adults

Young gun Ben Houchen, 27, is the new leader of Stockton Conservatives

Stockton Conservatives have a new leader for the first time in nearly a decade.

Solicitor and Yarm councillor Ben Houchen, 27, takes over the reins from Councillor Ken Lupton who has announced he is to retire from local government at the next election.

Mr Lupton, 68, ward councillor for Hartburn, has served nearly 50 years in local government. He was elected as a ward councillor in 1999 and became leader of Stockton’s Tory group in 2005.

Two years later he became leader of Stockton Council until Labour took control at the last General Election.

He also put himself forward as a candidate for the Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner’s job in 2012, but came second to Labour’s Barry Coppinger.

He said: “I’m not standing for election next year. I thought it was appropriate to give the opportunity for whoever wanted to go for the leadership.

“I have stepped into the deputy leader’s role so I can show Ben the ropes and take him through the ins and outs before I go.

“I have every confidence in Ben, I think he is a very capable young man.”

His fellow Hartburn Conservative councillor Terry Laing has also announced he is to retire at the next election.

James Wharton, Conservative MP for Stockton South, said: “It has been a real pleasure to work with Ken Lupton, who served the people of Hartburn and our town so well. He has been an excellent group leader and I wish him well in retirement.

“Ben is a brilliant choice and will take the group forward as we head towards next year’s local elections.”

Former Conyers School pupil Ben Houchen represents Yarm and Kirklevington on Stockton Council. He stood in the Middlesbrough Parliamentary by-election in 2012 following the death of MP Stuart Bell and recently stood in the European Parliamentary elections.

He has worked for two Teesside law firms, in commercial litigation and employment law, since graduating in law at Northumbria University.

He told the Gazette: “It is an honour to have been selected as the leader of the Conservative Group on Stockton Council.

“I would like to thank Ken Lupton who has been an excellent leader of the group for a number of years now and I owe a lot to Ken for where I am today.

“I believe we have a strong team, which I hope to make stronger by further holding Stockton to account for their mistakes on things such as housing development, parking charges and increasing council tax at a time when residents are already feeling the negative effects of a Labour run council.”

Fellow Yarm councillor Mark Chatburn, who recently jumped ship from the Tories to UKIP, wished the new leader “the very best of luck in what will doubtless prove to be a torrid six months for local Conservatives”. Tory Yarm councillor Andrew Sherris said he would have preferred “to have someone with experience and a proven track record”.

Murder accused Craig Conway tells jury he never meant to kill his friend

A murder accused told a jury he never meant to kill his friend as he took to the stand at Teesside Crown Court.

Craig Conway, 30, is on trial accused of murdering Simon Bennett in the Greenway, in Thorntree.

He told the court he doesn’t know what he used to stab Mr Bennett, 29, and doesn’t know what happened to it after the fatal incident.

He told the jury he was full of regret after the stabbing.

He said: “I took another man’s life. Not only that, I took a friend’s life.”

Conway has admitted a charge of manslaughter but denies murder.

Conway told the jury that he had known Mr Bennett since he was about 12 or 13. He said he had grown up in Pallister Park while Mr Bennett was from Thorntree.

He said: “We were good friends. Pals, mates from local areas”.

Conway told the court that Mr Bennett had become angry with him about a remark he had made about a man called Micky Robbo who was in prison.

Conway said he had seen Mr Bennett and his friend Daniel Blenkinsop on the morning of the fatal stabbing and had told them he had heard Micky Robbo was claiming he had been “set up” and “someone had grassed him in”.

He said later that night, while Conway was at his home in Berwick Hills Avenue, he got a message from Mr Bennett accusing him of starting the rumour.

The pair argued on text and on the phone before meeting on the Greenway. Conway said Mr Bennett was running towards him.

He told the court: “I walked towards Simon. I had my hands out to the side and I said I didn’t want to fight.”

Conway said: “He was running towards me and his hands went up, his fists were ready. I had no choice but to fight back.”

He said Mr Bennett made the first punch. He said he threw some punches at Mr Bennett but didn’t know if they landed.

He said he fell to the ground and Mr Bennett was continuing to hit him in the back of the head.

He said: “I thought it wasn’t going to stop. I thought it was going to keep going.

“As I was down I picked something up and I swung as if throwing a punch. I didn’t know where I had hit him. I heard a pop sound. I knew then I had stabbed him.”

He told the court he does not know what the object he used was or what happened to it after the stabbing. He told police he dropped it on the grass after the attack.

He told Mr Blenksop’s friends to call an ambulance telling them “I’ve stabbed him”.

He then left the scene on a motorbike.

Asked why he left, he said: “It was all dead scary, it all happened too fast. I know if I stayed there something else was going to happen.”

He said he later cried and hoped he hadn’t killed Mr Bennett. When he was told he died, Conway handed himself in to Middlesbrough Police Station.

Asked how he felt after the death. He said: “I was gutted. Something so daft could come to this. We were friends.”

Proceeding.