Thug jailed for attacks
THREATS ARE MADE TO JUDGE
A DANGEROUS dog owner who threatened a judge after he ordered the destruction of his pit bull has been jailed for nearly six years for tasering a man in the neck and attacking a woman.
Daniel Andrews kicked off in court earlier this month when told he would be jailed for 10 weeks and his dog called Demon would be destroyed.
Now Andrews has been back in court to be sentenced for a series of unrelated charges, including possessing a prohibited weapon, a taser disguised as a firearm.
CCTV footage captures the moment he repeatedly used the weapon on a man in South Shields during a drug deal.
The 25-year-old went on to assault officers and write graffiti in his cell using his own excrement during a “dirty protest.”
Newcastle Crown Court heard Andrews later subjected a woman to a terrifying attack in a hotel room and assaulted a doctor.
Now the thug, of Seafield Terrace, South Shields, has been jailed for five years and 10 months.
Prosecutor David Crook said it was on August 7 this year that Andrews was sentenced for being a person in possession of a dangerous dog.
Mr Crook said: “When he Daniel Andrews jailed for five years received his sentence on that date he threatened the judge, assaulted officers and made various comments.”
The firearms offence happened on September 29 last year on Under Anderson Street, South Shields.
Mr Crook added: “Footage shows the defendant removing a taser which he deliberately jabs in the neck of the person.
“One can see a glow when it is pulled back from the neck of the person he is attacking.”
After he was arrested police found cocaine and diazepam at his home.
He was taken to a police station and had his clothing removed and was kept under constant supervision as he was believed to be a risk to himself.
Mr Crook said: “At one point the defendant wrote graffiti on the wall with his own excrement.
“He then wrapped a blanket round his neck as if to kill himself.” Officers went to his assistance and he bit one of them, causing bleeding and bruising to his arm.
In April this year Andrews attacked a woman he was with at the Sea Hotel in South Shields when he became abusive and violent.
The court heard he grabbed, hit, pushed, spat on and bit the victim and tried to set fire to her hair.
Mr Crook added: “He said he had visions of dying in a hotel room but said ‘I am going to kill you first.’”
The woman left the room, after a sleepless night, when the cleaner arrived the next morning.
While being held at Southwick Police Station, in Sunderland, days after the attack on the woman, Andrews threatened to take a doctor hostage and put his arm around the medic’s neck and then headbutted an officer.
The following day he spat into the face of another officer and after the saliva landed in the man’s eyes, he warned “I have got Aids”.
Andrews admitted having a disguised firearm, possessing drugs and common assault charges on the woman at the hotel and the officers while in custody.
Vic Laffey, defending, said Andrews, who had a troubled childhood and mental health problems, had bought the taser shortly before he met the man near the subway to buy valium so he could end his own life.