Colchester lorry driver avoids jail again, despite targeting ex-wife

Father of two Paul Walmsley, 51, appeared before magistrates in May when he was told by a judge he was “lucky” not to be in court facing a death by dangerous driving charge.

Walmsley was before Ipswich Crown Court on Thursday to admit breaching his suspended sentence by committing a spree of offences in July and August.

They involved going to his ex-wife’s house and damaging a television screen, a mirror, and the windscreen of her Volvo V40.

Sentence - Paul Walmsley was before a crown court judge on Thursday, but still wasn't jailed (Image: Daniel Rees, Newsquest)

When police attended Walmsley’s address in Woodfield End, Layer, he injured an officer when he slammed the door on his foot.

In a separate incident, officers tried to arrest Walmsley when a neighbour heard a loud argument and called the police.

He then spat at one officer and attempted to bite another.

Other incidents involved Walmsley throwing cans of beer at his 17-year-old son.

Walmsley admitted three counts of assaulting an emergency worker, five counts of criminal damage, and two counts of common assault.

Mark Tomassi, mitigating, said Walmsley “doesn’t regard himself as a violent man” and was struggling with the break-up of his relationship.

He said: “He has had great difficulty coping but he nonetheless is sorry for what he has caused and done.

“I am not exaggerating when I say he is going through a crisis.

“Losing his licence means his income source was lost – he feels as a professional driver he has let himself down.

Record - Richard Walmsley has previous convictions involving drug cultivation (Image: Daniel Rees, Newsquest)“He has not coped at all well with all this time on his hands.

“He’s not actually a violent man or a nasty man or a man given to aggression – he’s found himself at a very low ebb.”

Sentencing Walmsley to one year in prison suspended for one year, Judge David Wilson also imposed a five-year restraining order preventing him from contacting his ex-wife.

He was also ordered to undertake a 90-day alcohol abstinence monitoring requirement, ten rehabilitation days, and will be subject to trail monitoring requirements for six months.