A WARWICK man who punched a woman after she intervened in a row between him and his girlfriend, breaking her nose, has been ordered to pay her compensation after he escaped being jailed.
Stephen Price had denied assaulting his victim causing her actual bodily harm, but was found guilty by magistrates in Leamington following a trial.
The 28-year-old of Longfellow Avenue, was sentenced to 26 weeks in prison suspended for 12 months and ordered to do 120 hours of unpaid work.
He was also ordered to pay £200 compensation to his victim and £280 costs, and was made subject to a restraining order banning him from having any contact with her for 12 months.
Prosecutor Baldev Singh Atwal said in September last year the woman was at a house party in Kettlewell Close in Warwick, when a family friend arrived with her partner, Price.
At around 10pm she was in the kitchen when Price became upset about his partner talking to another man and took hold of her with both hands round her neck.
The woman told him to let her go, and both women then went to the bathroom to talk.
The victim was sitting on the edge of the bath when Price burst and punched her, knocking her into the bath, and causing a bloody nose.
The woman went to Warwick Hospital where it was found she had a broken nose.
As a result, she has been left with a permanent lump on the bridge of her nose which has made her feel very self-conscious.
Mr Atwal added Price had 11 previous convictions for 58 offences, including eight for violence, over a ten-year period.
Paul O’Keeffe, defending, said there was little he could say about the offence itself, explaining Price took issue with the Crown’s case, claiming the incident had been accidental, ‘and that is still his position.’
Mr O’Keefe said Price had been released from jail in May last year, and since then he has been undertaking an electrical apprenticeship and was due to begin a college course in September.
Sentencing Price, chairman of the magistrates David Johnston told him: “The bench do feel it has crossed the custody threshold, but we have taken on board what Mr O’Keeffe has said on your behalf.”
