Longer jail sentence for abuser who punched woman

Macauley Nesfield subjected a woman to three years of abuse, police said

A violent man who left a woman and her baby covered in blood after punching her has had his prison term extended after it was ruled his original sentence was unduly lenient.

Macauley Barry Robert Nesfield, 28, of Eastfield, Scarborough, was jailed in December for two years and three months for controlling coercive behaviour, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and unlawful wounding.

But at the Court of Appeal on Wednesday, his sentence was increased to three years after an appeal by North Yorkshire Police's witness care unit.

Nesfield subjected the woman to years of fear and violence between 2021 and 2024 by manipulating situations to control her and physically abusing her, the force said.

The woman was too terrified to seek help until Nesfield punched her in front of her baby, splitting her head open and leaving her and the infant covered in her blood, North Yorkshire Police said.

'Clear message'

Following the Court of Appeal ruling, Det Con Kelly Sharp, from North Yorkshire Police, said: "I'm pleased that the court agreed the original sentence was unduly lenient.

"Domestic abuse and violence against women and girls is a serious threat to our society and today's outcome sends a clear message we will do everything in our power to ensure offenders are taken off the streets for as long as possible."

At the initial sentencing hearing at York Crown Court in December, Nesfield was also served a five-year restraining order.

North Yorkshire Police confirmed that a number of other offences, including six counts of assault, one of intentional strangulation, and one of criminal damage, were allowed to remain on file.

Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.