A WIRRAL man who smashed a window at his sister's home and deliberately pushed her arm onto the broken glass has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Liverpool Crown Court heard last week that the victim has been left severely scarred and will never have full use of her arm.

Jailing 30-year-old Anthony McCullagh, Judge John Morgan said: "It was a deliberate act which caused her very serious injury."

A jury had taken just 12 minutes to convict McCullagh, of Eastcroft Road, Wallasey, of wounding.

Miss Deborah Gould, prosecuting, said that on April 13 last year his sister, Dorinda McCullagh, went looking for him. She believed he had taken a computer because of his heroin habit but she could not find him.

Several hours later he turned up at her home in Leasowe and tried to kick in the front door and was shouting and swearing.

He then smashed the window of the living room, where his sister and her four children were, grabbed hold of her right arm and pushed it into the broken glass in the frame. Before running off he shouted: "That will teach you."

Miss McCullagh staggered to a neighbour's home, where she collapsed and was rushed to hospital.

She was detained for four days and was treated for a four centimetre-wide laceration to her forearm and damage to her nerves and tendons.

McCullagh, who has previous convictions, denied the offence. He admitted going round in temper to her home but claimed she had been injured accidentally.

His barrister, Stuart Driver, said that he still maintained his innocence but greatly regretted that his sister had been seriously injured. They had a complex and volatile relationship involving many arguments but deep down he loved his sister. He regrets the rift the incident has caused in the family and hopes that eventually there may be a reconciliation, said Mr Driver.

At the time of the offence he was on probation for shoplifting but has made good progress in kicking his drug habit with help from a local project which has given him a sense of purpose. His girlfriend is also expecting their child.

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