Criminal surrendered following nearly 8 hours on roof after it got too cold
A serial criminal with a long history of jailings was in a "frenzy" and in a "highly charged emotional state" when he climbed onto the roof of his home and hurled tiles down at the police. Lewis McLaughlin was on the roof for hours before he finally gave up and climbed down at 10pm because it was too "cold" for him up there, a court heard.McLaughlin, 32, of Newbold Court, Cleethorpes, but recently in custody on remand, admitted offences of affray and causing criminal damage on December 23 last year. He also admitted assaulting a woman, causing actual bodily harm, on December 6 and assaulting her on December 16.Harry Bradford, prosecuting, told Hull Crown Court that police went to McLaughlin's home on December 23 to arrest him after the earlier assaults. They forced their way inside but McLaughlin went into the loft and climbed onto the roof.He was on the roof from 2.15pm until the evening. He caused significant damage by pulling roof tiles off and throwing them to the ground below. Some of them landed on police cars."The defendant was deliberately aiming tiles at vehicles," said Mr Bradford. McLaughlin shouted: "I am not stopping until the roof of the police car is touching the seats."There was a "significant use of public resources" including the fire and ambulance services as well as drones. Several residents were prevented from leaving or going to their homes."The defendant eventually climbed down from the roof at 10pm and he was arrested," said Mr Bradford. During police interview, he said that he came down from the roof because he was cold.The earlier offences happened after he was in a relationship with a woman for more than 10 years. She spent the night at his home on December 6 but, when she woke up and was about to leave, McLaughlin accused her of restarting her relationship with her ex-boyfriend.He blocked the doorway, snatched her mobile phone and got "madder and madder". He slapped her on the cheek with the back of his hand, causing large black bruises to her face.The blow was with such force that she fell over. There was blood on her face and in her hair.On December 16, there was an argument and McLaughlin accused her of talking to another man. He later shouted and demanded to know who she had just telephoned."He grabbed her handbag and pushed her to the ground," said Mr Bradford. The woman had been left fearful of McLaughlin and she suffered recurring nightmares.She felt trapped. "I can't move on with my life," she said. McLaughlin had convictions for 59 previous offences between 2005 and 2024, most recently for assault causing actual bodily harm and causing criminal damage in December 2024, when he was jailed for 20 months.He had been jailed for 14 weeks in 2022 for affray, locked up for four months in 2019 for stalking and jailed for four weeks in 2018 for assault. He was sent down for 15 months in 2018 for wounding and he was locked up for 20 months in 2016 for two offences of affray.Steven Garth, mitigating, said that Father-of-four McLaughlin was in a "highly charged emotional state" and he had been drinking at the time of the rooftop incident. "The defendant's emotional state became a frenzy," said Mr Garth.Partly in panic, partly in his emotional state, McLaughlin threw things. "The defendant lost control of himself and caused an ugly incident, which lasted a number of hours," said Mr Garth."He utterly regrets behaving as he did. He apologises to all concerned. He has a long and unenviable record, perhaps not the worst record, but he has been to custody any number of times."McLaughlin slapped his girlfriend with the back of his hand during a sudden loss of temper. "He immediately regretted that behaviour and tried to calm the situation down but the damage had been done," said Mr Garth.Matters took a further turn for the worse on December 16 and the "atmosphere soured" again. "She fled from him," said Mr Garth. "He followed her. There was an altercation and he pushed her to the ground."Unemployed McLaughlin had suffered problems. There were references for him and he had written a letter to the court. He had a job offer.Recorder Alistair MacDonald KC told McLaughlin: "There is no possibility of anything other than an immediate custodial sentence. You have many, many previous convictions."McLaughlin was jailed for three years and he was given a five-year restraining order.Did you know you can make Grimsby Live a preferred source of news in Google, which will mean you get more of our breaking news, exclusives, and must-read stories straight away? Here's more information about what this means and how to do it - you can also do it straight away by clicking here .
