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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
National
Amy Walker

Terrified woman ran from house screaming for help after ex punched her and hurled pint pot in her face during drunken bust-up

A man hurled a pint pot in his ex-girlfriend's face during a drunken bust-up.

John Duckworth's relationship with the woman was 'peppered' with violence.

One morning in December last year, the woman went to see the 37-year-old at his dad’s house.

When she got there, she realised he had been drinking, Manchester Crown Court heard.

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The pair started to argue. Duckworth called the woman a 'sl**' and punched her in the face.

She punched him back to 'get away from him', before he picked up an empty pint glass and launched it at her.

The woman was left with a deep wound, from her lip to her chin, which needed 80 to 90 stitches. She was also left with injuries to her eyelid and eye.

Duckworth, from Bolton, pleaded guilty to section 18 wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

He's now been jailed for five-and-a-half years.

Prosecutor Daniel Lister earlier told the court the couple had been in a relationship for three years. They broke up following rows a number of times.

Duckworth would apologise and they would get back together.

Mr Lister said that on the day of the attack, the defendant verbally abused the woman.

Duckworth appeared at Manchester Crown Court (ABNM Photography)

“Witnesses describe that both parties were affected by alcohol, but the argument developed and the defendant punched her," he added.

“She responded by punching him to the chest, but he then picked up an empty pint glass and threw it directly in her face. He was stood just two to three feet away.”

The woman ran from the house shouting for help. She said she could hear Duckworth following her and asking her to come back.

In a statement read to the court, the woman said she still has blurriness in her left eye. She said her doctor told her that if the wound had been slightly to the other side, it could have proven fatal.

“The assault has knocked me for six and I’m worried about people asking me about how I got the injuries to my face,” she said.

Duckworth has 24 previous convictions for 53 offences, including three assaults and harassment against former partners.

Mitigating, Mark Friend said: “Perhaps for the first time in many, many years, this defendant now gets to see the life he has been leading through sober eyes,” he said.

“He has received treatment for Librium, which we know is an uncomfortable and unpleasant experience. He has been free of alcohol for many months.

“This has permitted him to see the path he was travelling.

“He has undergone an epiphany over the last few months and he is anxious, if not desperate, to ensure his life continues in the way it had for the past few months in sobriety.

“He is deeply remorseful and expresses distress at what he has done.”

Sentencing, Judge Timothy Smith told Duckworth: “It’s quite clear you have allowed alcohol to dominate your life and your lifestyle and you have been carrying the effect of alcohol on the relationships you have with partners.

“It would have been the ruin of you - this offence that has been committed has been the ruin of her.

“She suffers with flashbacks and anxiety.

“This was a glass picked up and hurled in drunken anger.”

Duckworth, of Wrenbury Drive, was made the subject of a restraining order to run indefinitely.

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