Teen thug threatened to stab his girlfriend

Chesterfield magistrates’ court heard on Tuesday how Luke Burrows, 18, of Heanor Road, Codnor, attacked 17-year-old Kirsty Parker four times and also hit her friend Jodie Barrett.

Matters reached a head when Miss Parker asked her mother to collect her in the early hours one February morning, according to prosecuting solicitor Michael Treharne, but Burrows would not let her go.

Mr Treharne said: “He grabs her by the throat and throws her onto a mattress. She gets up only to be confronted by him with a seven-inch screwdriver which he presses against her stomach causing pain and it’s accompanied by the words ‘I am going to stab you’. After he moves away he sits on her on the bed and she is very scared and then he breaks down and says he’s going to end his own life.”

The court heard how Burrows previously slapped his girlfriend in the face, dragged her into woods and grabbed her by the throat in July after they had been drinking and she had not answered his calls.

The couple had a further argument in October, 2013, while Burrows was on bail and Miss Parker had said she was going out. Mr Treharne said Burrows grabbed her by the jacket and after she tried to pack a bag of clothes and leave the defendant pursued her, grabbed her belongings and pushed her to the ground.

When she returned for the rest of her belongings, Mr Treharne said Burrows pushed her in the chest and as her friend Jodie Barrett tried to intervene she was hit by Burrows.

Burrows, who has served seven weeks in custody for breaching his bail, pleaded guilty to five counts of assault.

Defence solicitor Julie Page said: “We’ve got two young people trying to have an adult relationship and Mr Burrows has accepted it has not been a healthy one.”

Miss Page added Burrows’ mother had passed away and his behaviour is about not knowing what a relationship should be rather than wanting to dominate. Magistrates sentenced Burrows to an 18 month community order and 100 hours of unpaid work. He was ordered to pay £100 costs and a £60 victim surcharge.