Attacker who broke women's bones jailed

Jonah Rochester was jailed for nine years and three months

A man who attacked two women, leaving one with a fractured hip and the other a broken leg, has been jailed for more than nine years.

Jonah Rochester, 29, was much bigger and younger than both his victims when he injured them in two separate attacks last summer in Hartlepool, Teesside Crown Court heard.

He had denied any wrongdoing but was found guilty of multiple offences by jurors.

Judge Chris Smith said Rochester had lost his "self control" and become "enraged".

'I'm an animal'

Prosecutor Annelise Haugstad said Rochester, of Marshall Close in Hartlepool, was at a social gathering with his girlfriend and her neighbours on 27 May.

In the evening he started becoming aggressive and could be heard saying he wanted MDMA.

When he started shouting and swearing in front of children, a 46-year-old woman asked him to go.

After initially leaving, he ran back into the house and picked the woman up twice, slamming her down on a table and then to the floor.

The woman, who was 5ft 1in (155cm) tall compared to the more than 6ft (183cm) tall defendant, said she instantly felt pain and was unable to move, with doctors later finding she had fractured her hip.

Rochester was shouting "I'm an animal, I'm going to kill you" as he grabbed the woman, Ms Haugstad said.

Police were called and he tried to throw punches at and bite a male officer as he attempted to arrest him, the court heard.

'Danger to women'

About two weeks later, at about 01:30 BST on 15 July and while on police bail, he went to the flat of another "middle-aged woman of diminutive stature" demanding to see her son, Ms Haugstad said.

The woman asked him to leave and forced him out, with both of them ending up outside where he grabbed her by the throat and attempted to pick her up while squeezing her neck, causing her to black out.

He then threw the woman to the ground and deliberately stamped on her right leg, breaking it, the court heard.

In a victim impact statement the woman, who also suffered bruises to her face and head, said she feared he would return to attack her again.

She said he was a "very big man" with "an awful temper" who was a "danger to women".

The court heard Rochester had nine previous convictions for 14 offences including for hitting a man in the face with a chain around his knuckles, knocking another man unconscious at a snooker club and punching a female paramedic.

Rochester was found guilty of inflicting grievous bodily harm, assaulting an emergency worker, causing grievous bodily harm with intent and intentional strangulation.

Judge Smith said the assaults came about because Rochester lost his "self control" and became "enraged".

He said the strangulation offence was "inherently dangerous behaviour", adding: "It is known only a surprisingly modest amount of force is required to inflict permanent, irreversible harm or worse."

Rochester was jailed for a total of nine years three months, with a restraining order banning him from contacting his victims for 10 years.

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