A DRUNKEN man punched his girlfriend and hit her with a table in her Bromsgrove home, causing a ‘nasty gash’ to her head.

James Petford, 36, of Sant Road, Birmingham, admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm after his former partner Emma Partridge had her wound sealed with staples following the attack.

He appeared via videolink from HMP Hewell to be sentenced by Recorder Robert Spencer-Bernard at Worcester Crown Court on Wednesday.

Petford further admitted breach of a six-month suspended sentence order and a community order.

Miss Partridge had returned from a shopping trip in Birmingham to her home in Milton Road, Catshill, with the defendant's 15-year-old daughter, to find herself locked out.

She did not realise Petford was inside and called the council who sent a locksmith to drill out the lock before the incident on Saturday, December 17 last year.

Paul Cook, prosecuting, said it was only when the lock was being drilled that Petford opened the door. He had left a key in the lock which prevented Miss Partridge opening the door.

He said: “He was very drunk and holding a can of beer and not making much sense.

"She asked him to leave and told him she would call police. He jumped up and struck her face, connecting with her jaw. She said ‘it was the hardest I have ever been punched’. She fell, hitting something as she did so. He picked up a table and hit her in the back.”

The cut she suffered needed five staples at hospital.

After the incident he told her ‘you know I love you’ but she told him ‘that isn’t what you do to someone you love’.

When she called police he swore and escaped through a window.

He was arrested and interviewed and told police he hoped to marry Miss Partridge and that they were still in a relationship.

Petford has also previously been convicted of an assault occasioning actual bodily harm against the complainant’s mother Margaret, after he stamped on her as he tried to take a bottle of vodka from her.

Bernard Porter, defending, said there had been no premeditation but admitted Petford ‘has an unenviable history’.

He said that Petford had no other offences on his record which related to Miss Partridge.

Petford had been waiting for Miss Partridge and his daughter to return from a shopping trip and had started drinking.

“He locked himself in and left the key in the door so it could not be opened” Mr Porter said.

Recorder Spencer-Bernard said: “There’s a rather mean, unpleasant aspect, locking her out of her own home.

"Whatever the duration of your relationship with Emma Partridge may have been, the fact remains it was in the clear context of domestic violence. There can be no excuse for it.”

He said the only mitigation was that Petford pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

“You struck her. She fell against furniture. She got a nasty gash on her head which required five staples in hospital,” he said.

Petford was jailed for 18 months, 12 for the assault and six months concurrent as the suspended sentence was activated.

A five-year restraining order was also imposed preventing him from having contact with Miss Partridge.

Petford was told a victim surcharge must also be paid in due course but did not award compensation to Miss Partridge as he said no application for any had been made.