Nicholas Hazell, 27, was jailed for three years after bullying his mother and step-father
A son who viciously bullied his mother and step-father has been jailed for three years in a rare use of the law preventing controlling and coercive behaviour.
Nicholas Hazell, 27, of County Durham, went back to live with Judith Ridley, 56, and her Reverend husband Stephen, 62, after he lost his job.
He made their lives hell, creating a ‘horrendous atmosphere’ at the family home and flying into a petulant rage if he didn’t get his own way, Durham Crown Court heard.
Among his worst outbursts were when he threw his mother into a chair and repeatedly spat at her, while he held a screwdriver to his step-father’s throat.
The case is an unusual use of the law designed to prevent controlling and coercive behaviour, a criminal offence introduced in 2018, most often used to protect women from controlling partners.
The judge handed him a 39-month prison sentence and a 12-month driving ban on his release from prison.
He was also issued with a restraining order that bans him from contacting his step-father indefinitely.
The court heard that for a short time he was thrown out of the house, sleeping in his mother’s car, but was allowed back after bombarding her with threatening messages.
His step-father, a teacher and an Anglican priest, said he and his wife have been left ‘devastated’ by the court case.
Nicholas Hazell, 27, of County Durham, went back to live with Judith Ridley, 56, and her Reverend husband Stephen, 62, after he lost his job
They claim they will be there to support Hazell, a gifted rugby player, on his release from prison.
But they admitted he made their life a misery and they became frightened of the powerfully-built 27-year-old.
Prosecuting, Nick Adlington told the court he whipped his step-father about the head, put him in a headlock and poured a bottle of beer over him, telling him: ‘I am a master of bullying.’
Durham Crown Court (pictured) heard that for a short time Hazell was thrown out of the home, but was allowed back after bombarding his mother with threatening messages
In other tantrums he caused damage to furnishings and fittings around the house.
Hazell, of Bishop Auckland, also demanded £6,000 from his mother to secure the tenancy of a pub, an amount she couldn’t afford to lend him.
He exploded with anger at the refusal and was reported to police, but tried to flee in a 15-minute car chase in which he reached 100mph.
While on remand in Durham Prison phone calls were recorded in which he asked his sister to try to persuade their mother, who did not assist in the prosecution, to drop her complaints against him.
Despite early denials Hazell admitted controlling or coercive behaviour in a family relationship, dangerous driving and perverting the course of justice.
Stephen Constantine, mitigating, said Hazell had a history from a young age of suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which he said may account for his mood swings and erratic behaviour.
But Judge Jonathan Carroll told Hazell: ‘You are still acting more consistently like a petulant, stroppy teenager than a responsible adult.
‘You said yourself you were ‘a master of bullying’ and that seems to be eminently true.’
Reverend Ridley, spoke today outside the family’s large detached home in the village of South Church, near Bishop Auckland.
He said: ‘The problem with coercive control is that it goes right to the heart of a family’s relationship, that relationship becomes unbalanced and almost pathological.
‘The imbalance came because we had a very disturbed young man whose behaviour was out of control and we had a mother who loved him and wanted more than anything to help him.
‘His behaviour was frightening and uncontrollable, we were both frightened of him that is certainly true, but despite everything that happened her feelings for him never changed.
‘Nicholas was diagnosed with ADHD at a very young age, which made his life difficult. However he had an outlet for a lot of his anger and energy in that he was a tremendously gifted rugby player.
‘He had plans to join the army but he injured his knee playing rugby and he failed the fitness requirements.
‘Unfortunately he turned to cannabis, he began using it heavily and became addicted to it, which made everything so much worse.
‘When he lost his job in catering it sent him into a black pit of depression. We did everything we could to support him when he came home but gradually he couldn’t control his addiction or his anger.
‘He found it hard to blame himself for his situation, he blamed everyone else and a phrase he would use often was ‘look what you have made me do,’ which placed a great burden of guilt on his mother.
Reverend Ridley, spoke today outside the family’s large detached home (pictured) in the village of South Church, near Bishop Auckland
‘She still feels that and is struggling with it every day. In a typical middle class home we just didn’t know how to deal with that type of controlling behaviour, we were at a loss to know what to do other than keep trying.’
Eventually the decision was taken out of their hands when Hazell exploded into a rage and began smashing up the house, running out to his car to drive away.
Someone who saw the disturbance and his flight from it rang the police and that led to the car chase in which Hazell was eventually caught.
His stepfather said: ‘We didn’t call the police, we likely never would have, we wanted to deal with it at home, impossible as that was.
‘What I found hard to deal with was that in the middle of all these outbursts, which were aggressive and sometimes violent, he was an incredibly charming and interesting guy.
‘You could have a violent row and then within minutes you could be having a normal conversation. The cloud would pass and it would be sunny again so you would always hope it would get better and would never want to take the nuclear option.
‘We will continue to support him through this. I don’t know what will happen when he is released, where he will go, but we’ll be there for him.’