A man is facing a possible prison sentence after he kicked and slapped his partner while she was lying on the ground after a drunken night out.
Leon Tarner woke people living along Marine Parade and Wellington Terrace in Clevedon by shouting and threatening his partner as they made their way home on the evening of May 30, Bristol Crown Court heard.
By 12.40am on the morning of May 31, local residents had called the police after hearing the 45-year-old from Clevedon shout at the woman: ‘F***ing get up now before I kick your f***ing head in’.
Judge Euan Ambrose watched a CCTV film from a resident’s doorbell security camera during the court hearing.
The video showed the woman sitting down on the pavement with Tarner repeatedly trying to pull her up.
At one point in the five minute film, Tarner, of Wellington Terrace, Clevedon, pulled the woman up by her hair, and on two occasions, as the woman was lying on the ground, he kicked her.
Police arrived at 1.50am, by the time they had reached Wellington Terrace, and an ambulance was called, while Tarner was arrested.
Emily Hegaddon, prosecuting, said that ambulance crews photographed the woman’s injuries, and they included a black eye, a lump to her head, a bloody nose, injuries to her face and a cut lip.
She also said the woman, who Bristol Live is not naming, had ‘other bruises, old injuries’.
“When police found the pair, she was naked on the top half of her body, and could not account for how her bikini top had been ripped,” said Ms Hegaddon.
“Police described her as clearly intoxicated but able to stand.
“They said she told the officers they didn’t know what it was like, and ‘this is what happens’ when she p***es Mr Tarner off’. She refused to go to hospital, but did allow photos of her injuries, which were taken in the back of the ambulance.
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“She was shown those images and said it was her fault, and that she ‘bruises easily and deserved it’. She became very upset at seeing the pictures,” said Ms Heggadon.
Tarner was interviewed the following day and he said he’d been drinking all day but the woman had been drinking more. He said he didn’t know what police were talking about when it was put to him about the threats to her. He told police he had pulled her hair to avoid her banging her head on the ground.
“He was then shown the CCTV video of him slapping her to the back of her head and ‘nudging’ her with his foot,” said Ms Heggadon
“He said he was ashamed of himself after seeing his actions,” she added.
Tarner appeared before Bristol Magistrates the following day and pleaded guilty to assault occasioning ABH.
He was due to be sentenced at Bristol Crown on June 24, having spent the whole of June in custody on remand, and initially told the court he was happy to proceed without legal representation.
The court heard a pre-sentence report had been written which said Tarner posed a ‘medium risk of causing serious harm’, and recommended that he could be eligible for a suspended sentence or community order.
The court was told the woman had requested a three-year restraining order against him.
But when Judge Ambrose told Tarner he would be considering the possibility of a custodial sentence for the offence, Tarner said he did want to be legally represented, and the only reason he wasn’t was because he’d been told he didn’t qualify for legal aid, but couldn’t afford a solicitor or barrister.
So Judge Ambrose adjourned the hearing for a week, to enable Tarner to inquire again about being represented.
