Man threw radiator at judge before punching him in court hearing

A man jailed for three years for throwing a radiator at a judge before attacking him has been sentenced to a further five months in prison after admitting contempt of court. Greg Hazeltine repeatedly punched Judge Patrick Perusko at Milton Keynes Family Court in November last year and verbally abused Recorder Dharmesh Patel at two earlier hearings.

The 41-year-old was jailed for three years in June after pleading guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm on Judge Perusko, criminal damage to the radiator, and using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour towards Judge Patel. At a hearing at the High Court on Thursday, Hazeltine admitted being in contempt of court for nine incidents, including the three for which he had previously been sentenced, and was sentenced to a further five months behind bars.

In his ruling, Mr Justice Cobb said that the nine offences occurred across three hearings in 2023. At a hearing on November 29, Hazeltine verbally abused and made “indirect threats” to Judge Perusko, stating “Go f*** yourself you little pr*ck” as well as calling him a “little lying weasel” and a “bully and a coward”.

He then picked up a “small, free-standing” radiator and a laptop, throwing the former at the judge before “vaulting the judicial barrier”.

He followed the judge and pushed him into the corner of a room, causing Judge Perusko to hit his head on the metal base of a coat stand, pinned him down and “punched him to the head a number of times”. That followed offences committed at a hearing on February 3 last year, where Hazeltine interrupted Judge Patel and “impeded the delivery of a judgment, causing upset and inconvenience to the court”.

Then on July 13 last year, Hazeltine “used threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour” towards Judge Patel “with intent to cause him to believe immediate unlawful violence would be caused upon him”, and again interrupted the judge while giving a ruling. Mr Justice Cobb said Hazeltine also called the judge a “f****** weasel” and a “piece of sh*t”, and said, “let’s go outside”.

Hazeltine attended Thursday’s hearing via a video link from HMP Highpoint in Suffolk, with his parents and partner present in court. His barrister, Jessica Lee, told the hearing Hazeltine had been “navigating family proceedings” without legal representation, which was “particularly distressing for him”.

She said: “He felt at times vulnerable. He felt at times unable to respond in a way that he considered fair.”

She continued: “He apologises for his horrific actions on those days and takes responsibility for them.”

The court heard that Hazeltine said: “I can’t justify why I hit the judge and I wake up wishing every day that I had not done it because he does not deserve what I did to him.”

He continued: “I wake up every day regretting my horrific actions.”

Mr Justice Cobb said no separate penalty would be imposed for the three offences to which Hazeltine had already been sentenced, stating that the assault was “undoubtedly the most grave” of the nine. He also said he accepted that Hazeltine found the family proceedings “intense and challenging” and that he was “frustrated at the delays” in his case.

But he found Hazeltine was “unrestrained in his contempt for the legal process” and that the judges were “patiently and conscientiously attempting to engage with him”, adding that his behaviour was a “blatant and unrestrained interference with the administration of justice”.

“Mr Hazeltine’s repeated conduct was insulting, intimidating, threatening and abusive to the judges who were conscientiously fulfilling their public duties,” he said. “It was undermining of the dignity and authority of the court.”

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