(Image: Newsquest)
A drunken man drove off in his ex-partner's car after hurling abuse at her in a row over childcare, a court heard.
Paul Parsons verbally abused the woman before driving off in her car with his friend asleep in the passenger seat, Teesside Crown Court heard.
The 40-year-old was also breaching a suspended prison sentence when he was arrested.
Prosecutor Saba Shan said the row erupted after Parsons dropped the child at a cricket club, where the woman was with friends and family.
She said Parsons later arrived at the woman’s home in her car, which he was insured to drive, but she noticed that he and his friend were drunk.
“He still wanted to use the car to take his sleeping friend home, but she refused," Miss Shan said.
“He became aggressive and threatened to damage her property before driving away in her car.”
Miss Shan said Parsons returned and demanded that the woman hand over his son. When she refused, he threatened her and became aggressive.
She added: “They went outside and continued arguing, and the defendant got in her face, causing her to fear for her safety.”
Parsons, of Arthur Street, Redcar, admitted taking a car without the owner’s consent and committing common assault. Both offences took place on August 8.
His lawyer, John Nixon, said Parsons had been ‘utterly tormented’ since his arrest and took a bag to court in case he was jailed.
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Judge Timothy Stead gave Parsons a 12-month community order with 50 hours of unpaid work, and fined him £10 for breaching his suspended sentence.
“I think you know very well what your real difficulty is,” he said. “I don’t think it will be easy for you to cease to be alcohol dependent.
“I think the only way for a person such as yourself is to not drink at all; otherwise you are straight back into dependency.”