Jailed: Man, 22, pushed mother down stairs at her Shrewsbury home
A ‘cowardly’ man who pushed his ill mother down a flight of stairs after a disagreement at her Shrewsbury home has been jailed for a total of nine months for assaulting her.
Mark Fairbanks, 22, of no fixed abode, admitted attacking his mother in May this year during a visit – which he was not allowed to do after being banned by the court following a previous assault on her.
The town’s crown court heard that alcohol was a factor in the incidents.
Mr Timothy Ashmole, prosecuting, told the hearing: “The defendant assaulted his mother in 2016 by punching her in the face. He was issued with a protection from harassment order – with conditions that he should not contact her except through his siblings and not to go to the premises.
"He breached this and went to the home in May. They had some drinks. There had been a disagreement between them and he became verbally aggressive.
“At 1.30am she was playing games on her phone and they started to talk about family matters. The defendant told her about his girlfriend’s illness and was unhappy with the victim’s response.
"She got up and went to the bathroom and when she came out he grabbed her by the throat for a few seconds. He pushed her between the shoulder blades causing her to fall down the stairs.
"He walked down and pulled her by the hair. He dragged her back up the stairs. She doesn’t recall anything after this, but later recalled that just before he pushed her he said, ‘I’m going to kill you’ and she said at the time she felt in fear of her life.
“A neighbour phoned the police on May 21 and it was noticed that the victim had bruises on her toes and there were red marks on her neck.
“When the defendant was arrested and interviewed on May 23 he said he was aware of the restraining order. He said his mother was due to write to the court to cancel the order because she has fibromyalgia, a condition which affects her balance.
"He said he did push her, but that she fell down the stairs at a different time effectively saying it was not his doing. "His mother has had an MRI head scan and has since been diagnosed with emphysema which makes reconciliation between them at the home address undesirable.”
Mr Stephen Scully, mitigating on Fairbanks’ behalf, said: “Everyone is of the view that my client is in need of help, but unfortunately he hasn’t got an address which makes it difficult for anything to be arranged to help him in the community.”
For the latest assault Judge Jonathan Gosling sentenced him to nine months in prison. For the breach, which he also admitted at an earlier hearing, he jailed him for two months concurrent.
“You behaved in a cowardly and bullying way towards your mother,” the judge added.
