A MARYPORT woman who was previously assaulted by her son wrote him a character reference after he flouted a court order that banned him from contacting him.

James Weaver, 44, given the restraining order after being jailed for a common assault on his mother, was also at risk of a prison sentence after an earlier conviction for making sexual comments to a 15-year-old girl at Barrow Railway Station.

The defendant, of Dalton Road, Barrow, admitted possessing cannabis and breaching the restraining order. At Carlisle Crown Court, prosecutor Gerard Rogerson outlined the facts.

At 2am on February 27, two days after his release from his earlier sentence, Weaver went to his mother’s home in Maryport, despite the court order banning this. Hearing him banging on her door, she let the defendant into her home.

The prosecutor said: “When she smelled alcohol on his breath, and he began raising his voice and staggering around the living room, she became anxious and went upstairs immediately and began to shake.

"She did not feel safe.”

In the light of the earlier assault, the woman decided to call the police. The court heard that in spite of the previous assault offence, the defendant’s mother wrote her son a reference, in which she stated: “He’s not really a bad lad. He’s just silly.”

Weaver’s criminal record consists of 88 previous offences, including the common assault on his mother in January and the sexual communication with a child offence in April last year, for which he was given a suspended six-month jail term. 

Very drunk while at the railway station,  Weaver had talked lewdly and explicitly about what he wanted to do sexually to a 15-year-old girl who was nearby. This offence led to the defendant being put on Sex Offender Register.

Brendan Burke, defending, said the defendant had already spent 29 days in custody because of his illegal visit to his mother’s home in Maryport.

The barrister suggested this was at his mother’s invitation, and he had expected to spend the weekend there.

Mr Burke said: “But he spent the weekend getting drunk to celebrate his release. There was no difficulty when he arrived at 2am, with his mother allowing him in… He seems to go out and celebrate whenever he is released.”

Judge Nicholas Barker said the defendant’s mother had “locked herself into her bedroom and called the police” after he arrived at her home. This happened within days of his release, demonstrating he had no intention of behaving himself.

“You have a problem with alcohol and intoxicants and cannabis,” said the judge. “That is why, it seems, you committed the offence of sexual communication with a child while sitting drunk at Barrow Railway Station on February 17.”

The judge said he did not consider there to be a realistic prospect of rehabilitation and there was no alternative to immediate custody, with the sentence perhaps acting as a “breakwater” that would keep the defendant away from alcohol and other substances.

Weaver was given two months jail for breaching the restraining order and the earlier suspended sentence was fully activated, making a total of eight months jail.