Man jailed after throwing an ashtray at a woman in Rochdale

Darren Wood

A man has been jailed after throwing an ashtray at a woman and fracturing her eye socket in Rochdale.

Darren Wood (23/09/1975) of Meldreth Drive, Manchester has today, Monday 9 July 2018, been sentenced to three and a half years in prison at Manchester Minshull Crown Court after being found guilty by a jury of causing grievous bodily harm (section 20).

He also pleaded guilty to section 47 assault at an earlier hearing.

In late March 2017, Wood strangled and punched a woman in her 50s several times in her face.

Later that year in December 2017, he was then involved in another argument which began over this previous incident.

He was with a woman in her 30s at a house on Halifax Road when they began arguing.

Wood grabbed a heavy ash-tray and threw it at the woman - which broke into two as it hit her face - leaving her with a fractured eye socket and severe bruising to her face.

Despite the severity of her injuries, Wood told her it was only a small cut and they could fix it with make-shift butterfly stitches.

The following morning he was arrested but continued to deny the offences, saying he’d not done anything.

Detective Constable Russell Clarke of GMP’s Rochdale Borough, said: “This kind of violence will not be tolerated in Greater Manchester, everyone has the right to go about their lives without the fear of being subjected to harm.

“Wood denied these brutal offences throughout the investigation and I am extremely grateful to the jury for seeing through his lies.

“There is no doubt that Wood was a significant threat to these women and he will now spend the next three and a half years behind bars thinking about his actions.”