A Hollywood actor has been convicted of attacking his ex-girlfriend the day after he was freed from prison during Keir Starmer’s controversial early release scheme.
Tattooed bruiser Jason Hoganson was snapped giving a thumbs up as he walked free from HMP Durham on September 10.
Coincidentally, he was freed on the same day 1,700 other prisoners were released under measures to tackle overcrowding. He was not formally released as part of this scheme.
The 53-year-old thug had served just under half of his 18-month sentence for assaulting his ex partner, Rachel Usher.
But the actor was rearrested just 48 hours later on suspicion of two counts of breaching a restraining order and one count of assault after again attack Ms Usher.
Fallen star Hoganson, who had a leading role in the cult 1980s film Empire State, now faces going back to prison after he was convicted of assault and the restraining order breaches.
Newcastle Magistrates’ Court heard that mother-of-three Ms Usher died on October 30 – the day Hoganson was originally due to stand trial.
A judge ruled the case should still go ahead, despite Ms Usher’s tragic death.
In a statement from the 42-year-old victim, read by prosecutor Lisa Callum, the court heard how she had been in a relationship with Hoganson for about six years and that he ‘used to hit me all the time’.
Ms Usher said, on September 11, she had been waiting for a lift by her flat when Hoganson sprinted towards her and ‘slapped me across the side of my face’.
‘I do not have any injuries but the slap was powerful,’ she said. ‘There was a lot of force behind it.
‘He was shouting and bawling and seemed really angry,’ she added. ‘He called me a s*** and said there was someone in my flat.
‘He said can we go somewhere and when I said no he got even more angry.’
The court heard how the terrified mother-of-three called police, while violent Hoganson hit his head on an electrical box on the wall.
In his evidence, the 53-year-old former star claimed he only went back to the block of flats where his ex-partner lived to get some belongings from a man who lived there.
