Overview
- Kurt Kirkham, 36, was jailed for 29 months after pleading guilty at Newcastle Crown Court to two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
- The case stems from a confrontation in a car park opposite a Dunelm store in North Shields in March 2025, when he drove the wrong way and confronted a family with two young daughters.
- Prosecutors said he punched the father through a window, dragged him to the ground, and kicked his chest, causing a fractured sternum, then threw the mother down and ripped out hair as the children cried.
- The judge said the children saw their parents attacked by someone out of control and noted Kirkham’s prior violent convictions and three earlier suspended sentences.
- The defence submitted a doctor’s reference, said he showed remorse, and noted an ADHD assessment, but victim statements detailed lasting fear for the children and ongoing trauma.