The court was told the partner and children had been told they would have to leave home and had been unable to return. Magistrates were told that Shaw was last before the court in 2020 for battery, with an assault also on record dating to 2011. Miss Harris, representing Shaw, said an argument had begun relating to the family’s new puppy, and he had grabbed her. Miss Harris said Shaw was in the Royal Navy for 27 years, which included time in Iraq and Afghanistan, before being medically discharged. Magistrates told Shaw that the matter was "very serious", sentencing him to eight months in prison, suspended for 18 months.