A man who punched his partner as she tried to call for help has been sentenced to 28 months in prison for breaching a restraining order, assault, and strangulation.

Kyle Parker, of Longworth Road, Horwich, had originally pleaded not guilty to strangulation and assault at Manchester Magistrates Court in November, but changed his plea to guilty in January.

He was sentenced at Bolton Crown Court on Monday.

Prosecuting, Sophie Kenny, told the court how a restraining order and suspended sentence had previously been imposed on the 33-year-old, to prevent him from meeting with his then-partner following an assault.

However, Ms Kenny described how the woman had been ‘quite candid’ that they had continued to see each other despite the restraining order as they were ‘trying to make a go at their relationship’.

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Just over a month after Parker’s conviction, on November 26, the situation again turned abusive.

After returning to her home following lunch and drinks, the court heard how Parker 'mixed up his partner with another woman'.

His partner challenged him, the court heard, before he turned abusive and called her a ‘tramp’.

Parker, who has three previous convictions for six offences against the same victim, then used racially abusive language to describe one of her previous partners, who was black.

After his partner tried to comfort him, he put both of his hands around her neck, then on her chest, and punched her face, the court heard.

Parker’s partner sustained a black eye, bruising to her cheek, a swollen forehead, a graze to her left knee, and a lump in the back of her head because of the attack, which was carried out while Parker was under the influence of alcohol.

Trying to defend herself, Parker’s partner managed to kick him, but he then came back at her again, punching her to the back of the head and smacking her phone out of her hand while she was trying to call police.

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Mitigating for the defence, Nicola Carroll said that Parker was ‘relatively lightly convicted until last year’, but that he was ‘realistic’ in his expectations for the sentence.

Ms Carroll said Parker had remorse for his actions towards his now-ex-partner, and that he had responded well in the past to supervision, showing he could be managed safely in the community.

She added that the ‘demon drink’ had ‘very obviously taken hold of this relatively young man, and led him to behave in a way which is not in any way something which aligns with his character in the past’ – but that a period of forced sobriety due to his custody had ‘led to some very clear thinking because he is now at a crossroads in his life’.

Sentencing, Judge Abigail Hudson said the offences were aggravated by Parker’s record which shows ‘domestic violence going back a decade’.

Of the effect on his former partner, Judge Hudson added that the violence would ‘undoubtedly affect her relationships forever’, adding that she believed Parker remained a risk.

Judge Hudson sentenced Parker to 22 months in prison and activated six months of his previous suspended sentence, for a total of 28 months.

Parker will serve up to half of that sentence in custody before being released on licence.

If you have a story, I cover the whole borough of Bolton. Please get in touch at jack.fifield@newsquest.co.uk.