A MAN has been given a prison sentence for assaulting his partner at their home in Kirkby Stephen.
Sally Anne Howe told police she suffered violence at the hands of James Peter Conway in the early hours of April 20 after they had been drinking in the Upper Eden town.
Miss Howe told how 22-year-old Conway had punched her in the face, dragged her by the hair from a sofa at the Briarcote address and then kicked her to the head and body. Police took photographs of her injuries.
Carlisle Crown Court heard Miss Howe later made a further statement to say she was instead hurt during an altercation with some females outside a takeaway.
When he appeared before a judge in May, Conway denied a charge alleging an assault on Miss Howe, causing her actual bodily harm.
In court this morning (WED), he admitted the lesser offence of assaulting her by beating. That guilty plea was deemed “acceptable” by the Crown Prosecution Service, which was said to have taken a “pragmatic view” of the case.
Conway, now of Carleton Road, Penrith, was sentenced on the basis of Miss Howe’s initial statement. He was given a four-month jail term.
But having been remanded in custody since April and served the equivalent of a six-month prison sentence, he was told by Recorder Paul Taylor he would be released immediately.
