Six-foot Preston 'coward' ransacked woman’s home and assaulted her in a jealous rage
A Preston man was branded a “coward” by a judge after he was jailed for attacking his ex-partner.
Six-footer Michael Killeen ransacked the woman’s home and assaulted her in a jealous rage, a judge was told.
The 39-year-old pleaded guilty at the city’s Crown Court to assault by beating, criminal damage and breaching a restraining order which banned him from having any contact with his ex.
Judge Ian Unsworth KC branded it “a cowardly attack by a man much bigger than her”.
He sent Killeen to prison for a total of 16 months and made him the subject of a new restraining order for the next five years, prohibiting him from entering a specified road in Ingol and also a city centre pub.
The court was told Killeen was already on a restraining order after a previous domestic assault on the woman. That order in June 2024 barred him from making any contact with her for two years.
But police were called to an ongoing domestic incident in Clevedon Road in July this year. The woman was found in a distressed state and officers noticed she had a bump to the side of her head.
Footage from an officer’s bodycam showed her sitting on the front doorstep sobbing. When police entered the house they found the front door had been damaged, breaking the lock, and the downstairs was ransacked.
Killeen had been heard to shout: “You best be gone when I get out of prison.”
The woman explained that he had been staying at the house for two or three days – in breach of the restraining order – and had flown into a jealous rage when she returned from shopping.
She claimed she had been hit on the side of the head and also on her back. She was scared and she was taken to the Royal Preston Hospital for a check-up.
Despite what had happened – he had even thrown a TV set at her - she declined to make a victim impact statement to police ahead of his appearance in court for sentence.
The court was told Killeen had multiple offences involving violence on his criminal record including four separate battery charges and one of assault causing actual bodily harm.
The restraining order from the conviction in June 2024 was not due to expire until next summer.
Barrister Lewis Bocking, defending, said his client realised he would be going to jail for this latest conviction. The question was for how long?
He had been aware he was the subject of a restraining order when the offences were committed, but Mr Bocking suggested it wasn’t the most serious breach of its type.
He said Killeen was remorseful about his actions that day and wanted to apologise to the victim – and her 12-year-old son who was in the house at the time but did not see what happened.
“His intention is not to be stuck in a revolving door of criminality,” said Mr Bocking. “He understands this relationship can’t continue.”
Killeen, he said, had arranged a fresh start away from Preston in Carlisle and wanted to put the problems behind him. “He is the first person to acknowledge that his behaviour has to change.”
Judge Unsworth said after the attack Killeen had left through the back door of the house, which was a “cowardly” attempt to get away.
The attack had been, he said, “a shocking and ugly incident involving domestic violence”.
He added that when the restraining order had been put in place last year it was done so “in crystal clear terms”.
“I treat the breach of the order as the lead offence. I am satisfied that this does represent a very serious breach.
“This was not a chance encounter. You were inside a house you were not supposed to have been and with the victim.
“You have a terrible record for a man of 39. This involved further offending. This was set in a domestic context. There were children present. Your victim was vulnerable. It is plain in her account to police that she was a vulnerable person.”
He sentenced Killeen to 16 months for breaching the restraining order, three months for assault and one month for damaging the property, all to run concurrently.
He also replaced the previous restraining order with one for five years prohibiting him to make any contact with the victim. During that time he must not visit Clevedon Road, Ingol, or the Dog and Partridge pub in Friargate, Preston.