Shropshire Star

Jailed: Former Shrewsbury cage fighter who smashed ex’s car up just two hours after leaving prison

A former cage fighter has been jailed for smashing up his ex-girlfriend’s car – only hours after being freed from prison for breaching a restraining order stopping him from seeing her.

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Danny Suter

Daniel Suter, of Whitehouse Gardens, Shrewsbury, had been jailed for 27 weeks earlier this year for a third breach of the restraining order.

Shrewsbury Crown Court heard he was released at 5pm on June 14 and that by 10pm police were called to an address in Meole Brace where Suter had smashed up her car.

It was the fourth breach of the order prompting Judge Jonathan Gosling to jail him for 12 months.

Sentencing, Judge Gosling said: “A long sentence is the only way to deter you from doing this again.”

Suter had admitted harassment and criminal damage charges at Telford Magistrates Court on June 16. His ex-partner said she had been in a relationship with him for four years, adding that he had become controlling and there were levels of violence.

She told police she “lived in fear of him” and had a panic alarm installed in her house.

Kevin Jones, prosecuting, said at 10pm she was watching TV when there was a knock at the door. She was shocked to see Suter when she looked out of the window, adding he was crying, saying “let me in, I want to see the baby”. and he asked he to see his child.

She refused and he was said to have walked down the drive and started punching her car.

The court heard he punched the wing mirror four to five times, and the driver’s side window, and she said he had “gone mad”.

He punched the back window then picked up a rock and smashed it, Mr Jones added.

Police were called and Suter, who appeared in court via video link from HMP Hewell, was found 500 yards away at another address. He was arrested and told officers he heard his ex-partner was in a new relationship and was pregnant, and that when his ex-partner would not speak to him he lost his temper.

Mr Jones told the court previous breaches of the restraining order, put in place in 2015, included Suter pouring acid over himself when he was refused entry to her home in January 2016.

Another breach included the 31-year-old leaving 40 missed calls on her phone and slashing her car tyres with a knife earlier this year.

Jemma Gordon, defending, said Suter wanted to draw a line under the relationship and asked to be given credit for guilty pleas.

She said it was the fourth breach of the order and accepted he would receive a custodial sentence.

She added he had now been diagnosed with an anti social personality disorder.

Suter was at one point a promising cage fighter, who had been ranked in the top 50 in the UK. Miss Gordon said: “In prison he has been working in the gym and on the wing and is trying to get the help that he needs from professionals so he can turn his life around and comply with any order on his release.”

Judge Jonathan Gosling said a long prison sentence was the only way to deter him from breaching the order again.

Judge Gosling said: “You have a long history of violence and causing damage, have received some lengthy prison sentences, and you have breached this order on four occasions.

“If you want to see your child you have to go to the family court, you can’t take the law into your own hands.

“I am not surprised she was frightened to see you, and if there had been an assault or a threat it would have been a much more serious matter.”

Suter was jailed for 10 months for breaching the order, and two months for criminal damage, for which he will serve half and then be released on licence.

A new restraining order was put in place banning Suter from entering an area in Meole Brace.

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