Thug punched ex so hard it caused her blurred vision, court told

Aaron Hughes punched the woman in the face then followed it up with another series of blows after she ordered him to get out of her house.

Prosecutor Ayman Khokhar told Leeds Crown Court that the couple had been in an on/off relationship for about seven years and had four children together.

On the evening of July 20 last year he went to her home address in Hemsworth and they went to the neighbour's to drink, but after returning, got into an argument.

Hughes then smashed her iPhone over his knee, causing it to break.

The police were called and he was arrested, bailed and ordered to stay away from his former partner.

But on the evening of September 4, he went to her house again where they drank with friends.

Mr Khokhar said that at some point in the evening, his former partner felt his mood change with her, like she had done something wrong.

Fearing it might escalate, she asked him to leave but he refused.

When their friends left, the victim also took the children to her aunt's home, and returned home again at around 2.30am in the hope that Hughes had left.

However, he was in her bed, and when she shouted at him to leave he jumped up and punched her in the eye so hard it affected her vision.

He then threw a quick succession of punches.

The victim later told police that she then fell down the stairs, injuring her ribs.

She was taken to hospital by ambulance and Hughes was arrested.

She had a black eye, bruising to her left ear and swelling to her cheeks and head.

Hughes, 29, of Wakefield Road, Kinsley, denied assault occasioning actual bodily harm and was due to stand trial, but changed his plea on the morning that the trial was meant to begin.

He had already admitted a charge of criminal damage over the broken iPhone.

He has eight previous convictions.

Little mitigation was provided by his barrister, Richard Canning, after Judge Simon Batiste told him he would not go into immediate custody.

Instead, he gave him a nine-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, but ordered him to carry out 75 hours of unpaid work, attend a building better relationships programme and pay £150 compensation for the broken phone.

He was a five-year restraining order to stay away from the former partner.