Wigan mum hit in the eye by broken picture frame

Claire Barratt suffered a black eye when the sharp-edged object was flung by her one-time partner John Green, 42, of Bedford Street, Whelley.

Wigan And Leigh Magistrates’ Court was told the pair separated a few months ago and remained in contact to care for their 20-month-old child.

At 6.30pm on Sunday, November 26, they met at Appley Bridge railway station so Green could hand over the youngster to Ms Barratt.

Ann Deakin, prosecuting, said he was angry as his train was a few minutes late and he missed the return service to Wigan.

He asked Ms Barratt to drive him to Orrell, then the Boathouse pub in Appley Bridge.

The court heard that she pulled into the main entrance to the Mill Lane pub and informed him that she would be going on to another pub with their child to meet friends.

Ms Deakin said that this angered Green and at this point he tried to grab Ms Barratt’s car keys, which she managed to prevent him from doing.

But Green then got out of the vehicle, grabbed hold of her handbag and an argument erupted over a picture frame.

It was passed between them but dropped to the floor and the glass broke.

Ms Deakin said that Green then picked up the shattered frame and threw it into the car, hitting Ms Barratt in the eye.

In a victim impact statement, the victim said that she felt “scared” and “embarrassed about going out” due to the black eye and did not want anyone to see her.

Green pleaded guilty to assaulting Ms Barratt when he appeared in the dock.

Melissa Fagan, defending, said: “The defendant accepts because he was somewhat angry for what happened, missing the train, he picked the frame up and threw it.”

She said Green was an “extremely proud father” and took his parenting responsibilities “very seriously”.

He was a “hard worker” and could pay any financial penalties, she said.

A probation officer, who had spoken to Green, said he claimed the incident started because he could smell alcohol on Ms Barratt’s breath, that she was driving and had responsibility for their child, so he attempted to get the car keys to stop her from continuing on the journey.

He said he did not intend to throw the frame directly at her and had phoned the police himself when he saw what he had done.

The police had previously been called out to arguments between the couple when the victim had been drinking, although there was no physical violence on those occasions, she told the court.

Magistrates imposed a community order lasting for 12 months, which includes carrying out 80 hours of unpaid work plus 20 days of rehabilitation activity requirement, looking at addressing domestic violence issues.

Green was also ordered to pay £85 in court costs, an £85 victim surcharge and £100 in compensation to the victim.