A DRUNKEN thug who punched his partner in the forehead, leaving her bleeding and permanently scarred, has been jailed for a year.
James Thomson, 29, and Claire Sproat began a short relationship after his release from a prison sentence late last year.
On December 28, Thomson and Miss Sproat were drinking at a property in the Shaddongate area of Carlisle, he having consumed “a lot more”, the city’s crown court was told today (MON).
After she decided to return home, declining his request to go with her, he turned up and began repeatedly banging on her door, asking for some belongings. After she reluctantly let him in, he followed her to a bedroom. “As she sat down he punched her once to her head with a clenched fist,” said prosecutor Gerard Rogerson. “She immediately began to bleed from a cut which had opened up on her forehead.”
During hospital treatment she received nine stitches to a 1.5-inch wound, and had been left permanently scarred. “This assault was completely unprovoked,” Miss Sproat later stated. “The scar is very prominent on my forehead. It will be very difficult to cover up.”
Thomson, of Lewars Avenue, Dumfries, admitted actual bodily harm assault and was said by his barrister, Clare Thomas, to be “thoroughly ashamed of himself”.
Judge Nicholas Barker jailed Thomson for 12 months and banned him from contacting Miss Sproat for five years. “I’m sure that when she says that (injury) will leave a permanent scar, in some way she will always be able to see the result of your actions,” said the judge.
