Hartlepool Man Jailed for Repeated Assaults on Girlfriend

A violent individual named Mark Yates has been sentenced for a campaign of abuse directed at his girlfriend. Court reports indicate that Yates launched multiple brutal assaults beginning when he was confronted about messages from another woman. His violent behavior included repeatedly punching her in the face, kicking her in the chest, grabbing her by the hair, and striking her multiple times on a bus to Scarborough. Witnesses and CCTV footage documented these assaults, and police intervened following the incident at the waterpark. Yates pleaded guilty to controlling and coercive behavior spanning from December 2022 to July 2023, as well as four charges of assault causing actual bodily harm from March to May 2023. His offending resulted in injuries to his partner which required medical treatment. The court sentenced Yates to 59 months (nearly five years) imprisonment, recognizing his violent and abusive conduct, and noting his personal loss of loved ones and past remand time as mitigating factors.