Former child actor, 34, who appeared in Eastenders and The Bill is jailed for punching his mother

A former actor who repeatedly beat his elderly mother while she was in bed has been jailed for nearly four years.

Joshua Malin, 34, appeared in Eastenders when he was a teenager in 2003 and The Bill in 2006, according to the IMDB website.

Malim attacked 71-year-old Diana Malin at her home in Wood Green, north London, on March 1, while a restraining order was in effect to protect her following previous attacks.

Yesterday at the Old Bailey, Ms Malin sobbed in the pit of the court as her only child spent three years and eight months in prison and had no contact with her for ten years.

Malin was previously convicted of five offenses against his mother, including assault with bodily harm in 2010 and 2020, assault in 2018 and 2020 and criminal damages in 2013.

He has also violated a restraining order to see her twice before.

Malin had hit her on the head twice in June 2020, until she decided enough was enough and called the police.

He had also grabbed her hand while she was driving and withdrew her thumb multiple times, returning on August 13, 2017.

In a victim statement to the court, Malin’s mother said: “The attack made me feel vulnerable, I was worried about who would be at my door.

“Before he was arrested, I was always afraid to open my front door, afraid it might be him.

“I am sad for both of us, it has had an impact on my mental health and I feel scared, lonely and sad every day.”

According to the online movie and TV database IMDB, Malin appeared as “Camcorder Lad” in two episodes of Eastenders in 2003 and as “Jimi da Costa” in The Bill in 2006.

Malin also had a role in Lock, Stock, in 2000 – the TV spin-off of Guy Ritchie’s 1998 film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

Most recently, he worked as a waiter at a Chelsea hotel, the court heard.

Prosecutor Martin Lewis said: “On March 1 of this year, Mrs Malin was knocked on her door.

“She allowed her son into her house, and at first he was calm.

“She lay on her bed with a little pain from her long-term condition, spondylitis. Her son started accusing her that she was always in bed.

“During the conversation, Diana’s ex-partner was mentioned, someone the suspect didn’t get along with. But he found that they were talking again.

“Then they discussed another friend who disapproved of the defendant. The defendant started to get very angry because she had made a new friend.

“Out of nowhere, he started punching her in the face several times. He said, “If you don’t stop seeing them, I’ll kill you.”

“It was a sustained attack.”

Mrs. Malin had a bruise in her eye socket and on her knee.

Charles Burton, on the defensive, said there had been issues between Malin and his mother since childhood.

He said: ‘He has a deep love and affection for his mother, who has unfortunately been affected by these very deep-seated problems.

‘He thinks he has learned to let go of these things now.

‘He has led in his field of film, acting and the creative profession and has led a full and diligent life.

“This was not senseless violence against his mother, there are factors over which he has no control – triggers that cause him to behave a certain way.

“It is inconceivable that he would go to visit Mother with the intention of harming her. He would like nothing more than to be reconciled someday with the mother he loves.’

Judge Simon Mayo told Malin: ‘The victim was your elderly mother, but this isn’t the first time you’ve used violence against her, nor the first time you’ve violated a restraining order trying to protect her.

“You went to her house while she was in bed and when you entered her room you hit her several times.

‘She was 71 years old and had serious health problems that forced her to lie in bed for a long time.

“I find it hard to have a high degree of confidence that things will change.”

To a distraught Ms. Malin, he said, ‘I hope you understand why a long prison term was appropriate.

“I know that will evoke conflicting emotions in you as his mother.

‘I have issued a restraining order today’ [to] Last 10 years, which is meant to prevent you from being attacked again.”

Malin, of Wood Green, admitted there was physical harm and violation of a restraining order,

He was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison.

Malin was also subject to a 10-year restraining order preventing him from directly or indirectly contacting his mother, looking up her address, or entering the Peabody Estate where she lives.