A man who assaulted his partner during an argument about an under-heated hot tub has been sentenced by a judge.
Kerry Park was left with a broken ankle, split lip, head lump, black eye and bruising after the incident at Longtown on May 11.
Miss Park was there with Jonathan Mather, with whom she had occasional “shoving matches” during a 15-month relationship which was described at Carlisle Crown Court as “six of one, half-a-dozen of the other”.
Although they generally got on fine, Mather, 39, could change when in drink, criticising his partner’s friends and checking messages on her phone.
After the couple checked into a shepherd’s hut at Longtown, they ate and drank at a restaurant after finding their hot tub was not warm enough.
That was still the case when they returned. But a quip by Miss Park that at least she’d tried it after taking a dip in the water acted as a “trigger” for violence.
Twice Mather shoved her out of the hut and down stairs, causing her to suffer an ankle break. His grip left fingermarks on her skin and he also grabbed her neck and throat, beginning to strangle her and saying “I’ll kill you” before she hit back with a kitchen implement.
Miss Park initially made a statement of complaint to police before retracting it a fortnight later.
Mather, of Westmorland Street, Barrow, admitted assault and drink-driving after being found twice the legal limit inside a parked car in Longtown.
His barrister told Judge Simon Medland QC that Mather no longer drank alcohol and had taken steps to rehabilitate himself. Time in custody on remand had been a “catalyst for good” and the “wake-up call he needed”, said Judith McCullough.
Judge Medland imposed a two-year community order with 140 hours’ unpaid work. Mather was banned from driving for 16 months.
“You know that sort of conduct is completely unacceptable,” said the judge. “Women are not there in order to act as punch bags for men at any stage.”
