A drunk man who punched his partner and pulled out a clump of her hair after she spilled his drink has been sentenced by a judge.
Steven Jones, 45, had been drinking heavily before turning violent at his girlfriend’s Egremont home on March 6.
The woman knocked over a glass of Jones’ alcohol, causing him to flip, Carlisle Crown Court was told today.
Jones grabbed the woman by her throat, punched her face, kicked her in the ribs and pulled her hair — causing a clump to come out. She suffered a black eye, swollen face and bruising, and during two phone calls with the police said that she had been attacked by Jones.
He was arrested, had been remanded in custody since early March and in court this morning he admitted a common assault charge.
This was deemed acceptable to the prosecution as a lesser alternative to an actual bodily harm assault allegation he initially faced.
Jones’ barrister, Brendan Burke, conceded the defendant’s guilty plea was his only realistic mitigation. Jones had a string of previous convictions for assaults and harassment. His last offence for violence was recorded in early 2018.
Judge Nicholas Barker imposed a four-month jail term which, he observed, was likely to result in the defendant’s immediate release. He was banned from contacting the woman in any way — and entering her road — for five years.
The circumstances of the case, said Judge Barker, were “all too familiar to this court, which is men — it is usually men — becoming violent with their partners”.
“You lash out and hit people, on this occasion your partner — smaller, weaker, more vulnerable than you,” the judge told Jones, of Ennerdale Road, Cleator Moor.
“It is an act of domestic violence but it is the conduct of a bully who has no control over themselves. It is disgraceful and it is a blight on our society.”
