Locations
Hereford Road, Heaton, Bolton, Greater Manchester, BL1
Description
A man who sexually assaulted a child and repeatedly threatened his partner at knifepoint has been given an extended prison sentence after a judge deemed him to be 'dangerous'.
Daniel Waterworth, 31, inappropriately touched the girl - who is of primary school age - in December last year. At the time of the sexual assault, he was on bail in relation to a string of separate offences against his girlfriend.
The most serious of those came on April 1 2022, when he held a Stanley knife to her neck and threatened to kill her if she screamed. As the woman tried to fight Waterworth off, he sliced her hand open, prosecution barrister Isabelle Haddad told
He then pinned her down underneath a table and held his hand over her mouth, before gagging her with a dressing gown cord. The woman later told police that the cord had some liquid on it and this made her throw up. Waterworth only stopped the attack when a child walked in the room, the court heard.
That incident followed a similar attack less than two weeks earlier, the court heard. On March 19, Waterworth had accused the woman of cheating on him after she sent him a photograph of chocolates she was eating at work.
When they were both at their home later that evening, he got a knife from under a pillow and threatened to kill her if she screamed. He then locked the front door but the woman managed to escape to the front garden.
Waterworth caught up and punched her 'between eight and ten' times in the head. She eventually managed to seek refuge at a neighbour's house.
When Waterworth was arrested, police found a small snap bag of cocaine on him. Waterworth, of Hereford Road, Bolton, later pleaded guilty to two counts of threatening a person with a knife, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, battery, possession of cocaine, and sexual assault of a child under 13.
Defence barrister Nick Ross told the court that Waterworth is "disgusted at his own conduct". He said that Waterworth has 'no recollection' of the attack and that he has alcohol and substance issues. A psychiatric has also found that Waterworth suffers from psychosis.
The judge, Recorder Michael Maher jailed Waterworth for five years. He also imposed an extended licence period of two years, under the 'dangerous offender' provisions.
Addressing Waterworth, Recorder Maher said: "Your abuse of alcohol and drugs aggravates your poor mental health and aggressive behaviour." Recorder Maher imposed a restraining order, prohibiting Waterworth from contacting his ex-girlfriend and ordered him to sign the sex offender's register for life.