David Hatch, also known as Richard McCrea, appeared by video link from prison at Belfast Magistrates Court on Wednesday. The 46-year-old, originally from Co Armagh with an address on Ballycorr Road in Ballyclare, received a sentence of seven months in prison plus a two-year driving ban.

District Judge Anne Marshall imposed the penalties for two sets of offences committed within 48 hours on August 14 and 16 last year. The judge had deferred sentencing months earlier to consider community service and probation but ruled that option unavailable due to breaches and lack of address.

On August 14, Hatch arrived at his former partner's home. During an argument, he struck her several times. CCTV captured him exiting and re-entering the driver's seat of a car before driving away. He pleaded guilty to assault, driving while disqualified and without insurance.

Two days later, police observed him driving on College Square North in Belfast. When stopped, he admitted being disqualified and uninsured. He entered guilty pleas to those charges.

Hatch holds a Sexual Offences Prevention Order from 2017, imposed after imprisonment for sexual communication with a child and attempted grooming. In that case, he posed as a 17-year-old to arrange a meeting with a young girl.

A defence lawyer stated that Hatch had secured cleaning work in Ballyclare until colleagues learned of his prior sexual conviction, leading to job loss and a move to Scotland. Police arrested him there for breaching the order by relocating.

In February 2019, Antrim Crown Court jailed him for 11 months on another breach, but he received immediate release due to remand time. He breached again shortly after by purchasing a smartphone at a nearby Tesco.