A man who fled the UK for Cyprus after terrorising his partner at their home has been jailed.
Steven Keenan, 27, from Middleham, was due to face trial for affray back in November 2021 but fled to the Mediterranean island to evade justice, York Crown Court heard.
A judge issued a warrant for his arrest, but Keenan remained on the loose in Cyprus for four years. He returned to the UK in November last year and was duly arrested on December 1.
He was remanded in custody and a new trial date was set for March this year. However, Keenan pleaded guilty to affray on the day of trial.
He finally appeared for sentence today after he also admitted failing to surrender to the custody of the court.
Prosecutor Joe Culley said the affray occurred in July 2021 at the home Keenan formerly shared with his now-ex partner on East Witton Road, Middleham.
During a boozy evening, Keenan’s behaviour became increasingly erratic. At one point he jumped into a bath fully clothed, then started calling the victim offensive names, which upset her.
Becoming increasingly intoxicated, he then started cooking a roast dinner and ultimately turned violent, kicking the victim in the leg, causing bruising around the knee.
Keenan then returned to the lounge with a bottle of Jagermeister, the contents of which the victim tipped on the floor, before throwing the bottle at him.
Mr Culley said the victim then heard Keenan “going through drawers” in the kitchen. She retreated to her bedroom after she heard him rummaging in kitchen drawers for a knife.
Her friend and work colleague, who had been invited for drinks, told Keenan to calm down as the victim went upstairs to get out of his way.
Keenan followed her upstairs with a kitchen knife, shouting: “I’m going to kill you.”
The victim fought desperately to keep the unhinged bedroom door shut as Keenan tried to get in.
During the struggle, he began to “scrape the knife menacingly up the wall” and kicked at the door. The victim managed to keep Keenan at bay and then, bizarrely, he took the dog for a walk.
Keenan would later admit that he was standing behind the door with a knife in his hand, trying to get into the room, but denied the allegation that he “stabbed the knife through the door”. The prosecution ultimately accepted this when Keenan admitted affray.
After Keenan left the house with the dog, the victim and her friend locked all the doors and contacted police.
Keenan later sent the victim a message saying: “I hope you die soon. Have a good day.”
He was arrested and brought in for questioning the following day but denied he had used any violence or threatening behaviour.
He was charged with affray but then fled to Cyprus before his trial which was set for November 2021, about three months after the incident.
Mr Culley added: “It was not a happy relationship. (The victim) had given thought, prior to this offence, to ending (the relationship).”
Defence barrister Zarreen Alam-Cheetham said that Keenan “doesn’t want the impression that he was enjoying himself out (in Cyprus)”.
She said he had family there and was working on the island during his four-year fugitive status.
“The reason he absconded was due to mental health issues,” she added.
“He simply ran away from his problems.”
Judge Sean Morris told Keenan: “You are your own worst enemy. If you’d had the guts and good sense to plead guilty to these matters at an early stage, the likelihood is you would have got a suspended sentence and never have seen the inside of a prison.
“But no, because you are a coward you fled. This court issued a warrant for your arrest, and you were at large, on your toes, for (years) in the sun.”
Keenan was given a nine-month jail sentence for affray and a further three months, to run consecutively, for breaching his bail by absconding.
Due to the Government’s early-release scheme and the time Keenan had already spent on remand, the total 12-month prison sentence would trigger Keenan’s imminent release from jail.
He was also made subject to a five-year restraining order banning him from contacting and approaching his ex-partner.
