11:00am Friday 10th July 2009
By Katy Islip
A MAN who punched his girlfriend in the face and ribs after she spurned his advances has been jailed.
Michael Stevenson, 53, appeared at Southend Magistrates’ Court to deny two counts of assault on his 22-year-old girlfriend.
He was found guilty of both counts, and was jailed for four months for an incident on February 14 and two months for another attack on March 25, to run concurrently.
The court was told in the first incident, Stevenson, of Station Road, Westcliff, assaulted the woman in the early morning of February 14 this year after she turned him down when he wanted to sleep with her.
Giving evidence, the woman said: “I was lying down on the settee and he asked me, but I declined because I wasn’t in the mood. He just got angry and punched me with his right hand.
“It was hard enough to break my nose.”
The woman then told the court how Stevenson punched her four times in the ribs after she threw an ashtray at him as she tried to leave.
The second incident, which took place on March 25, occurred only days after the woman returned to the home she shared with Stevenson after staying with her sister following the first assault.
She said: “I came back because I wanted to sort things out with him. We had been together for five years and I do love him. I thought I should go back and decide what we should do, and we both decided to give it another go.”
The court was told how Stevenson had been drinking when a row broke out because the woman said she was going to bed because she felt unwell.
Prosecuting, Samantha Lowther said: “She was in the bedroom getting undressed.
“He was getting very close, shouting in her face, when he headbutted her.”
She added Stevenson had also verbally abused his girlfriend, accusing her of having an affair, calling her names and threatening to kill her.
Mitigating, Mary McKenna said: “Mr Stevenson has consistently denied these allegations.”
Ms McKenna said the woman wrote a statement on May 14 withdrawing her allegations, saying she did not want to pursue the matter.”
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