Single mum from Wainfleet trashed home, terrifying girl, 6

Hayley Louise Haughin, 28, of Carr Lane, admitted using violence to gain entry to premises, two charges of damage and one of assault when she appeared at Boston Magistrates Court.

Paul Wood, prosecuting, said Haughin and two friends went to the home of her former partner Daryl Poxon, by whom she had two children, at The Old Bowling Green, Windmill Lane in Alford, at around 9pm on November 4 last year.

He said Mr Poxon, who was at home with his six-year-old daughter, had heard loud bangs on his front door and then someone shouting ‘Daryl, you have brought this on yourself’’.

He realised that someone had broken into his home through the front door and telephoned the police.

Then he and his daughter went into a bedroom and he positioned himself with his back against the bed and his feet holding the door shut, said Mr Wood.

He said Mr Poxon heard two female voices and one male outside the bedroom and then the door was kicked and a hole made and Haughin reached through and tried to drag him out, causing scratches to his face.

Mr Wood said Mr Poxon’s daughter was screaming in fear when this was happening.

He said someone then shouted that the police were coming and two of the people left, but Haughin remained and tried to comfort the terrified girl.

Mr Wood said witnesses in nearby properties said they had heard screaming and a smashing sound and Mr Poxon calling for help.

He said Haughin had been in a relationship with Mr Poxon and they had two children together.

She told police she had been drinking alcohol and had initially knocked on the door, but when there was no answer, she and her friend Natasha Seymour, had kicked it in and she had then trashed the flat, overturning furniture and breaking a television set..

Mr Wood said that subsequently Mr Poxon had had to leave the property.

In mitigation, Helen Coney said there was a ‘lot of history’ between Haughin and Mr Poxon but she had not known his daughter was in the property with him when she went in.

Barbara Newman for the Probation Service said Haughin had been drinking with friends and had got ‘more and more wound up’ and they decided to go round to his place.

She said Haughin said she was ‘upset’ when she realised the girl was there.

The magistrates, who said ‘considerable force’ had been used and they were treating the incident seriously, imposed a community order with 20 days of rehabilitation activity.

She was also ordered to pay a total of £450 in compensation for the damage caused and £85 in costs.