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Sara Nichol

Blyth thug threw pint glass in girlfriend's face before reversing his car into hers

A remorseless thug threw a pint glass in his girlfriend's face then "deliberately" reversed his car into hers.

Violent Connor Cowen and his partner had been arguing in a pub in Blyth, Northumberland, when she threw a small amount of wine over him.

It caused the drunk 24-year-old to fly into a further rage and he picked up a pint glass and hurled it towards her head, a court was told.

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The glass hit the shocked victim in the face, causing her a lot of pain and leaving a deep cut above her eyebrow.

But, rather than calm down and apologise for what he'd done, unremorseful Cowen got into his car and "intentionally" reversed it into the victim's.

He was stopped by police and failed a roadside breath test, prompting him to be charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and driving with excess alcohol.

Cowen, of Tenth Avenue, in Blyth, has now narrowly avoided spending time behind bars after he pleaded guilty to the offences at Newcastle Magistrates' Court.

Leslie Burgess, prosecuting, said the pair had been in a relationship for three years but it had started to deteriorate.

They met at a pub in Blyth at 9.30pm on July 30 last year but immediately began arguing.

Ms Burgess continued: "There was a small amount of wine in the victim's glass and she did empty it on the defendant.

"He then picked up a pint glass and threw it at [the victim] and it hit her in the face. She was in immense pain and there was blood running down her face.

"Bar staff took her outside. The defendant went and got in his vehicle. She knew he had consumed alcohol. She says the defendant gets in his vehicle and reverses it, in purpose, into hers."

The court heard that the victim required hospital treatment to the cut and her car was damaged.

Police arrived at the scene and Cowen later failed a roadside breath test, giving a reading of 58mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath, when the legal limit is just 35.

In a statement, the victim said she had been permanently scarred and was so frightened of Cowen that she'd been forced to move out of the area.

She added: "Throughout my relationship with Connor my confidence was worn down by his constant manipulation and gaslighting.

"I became someone I didn't recognise. I became isolated from my friends and family."

The court heard that Cowen disputed he'd driven his car deliberately into the victim's and claimed he'd thrown a champagne glass, not a pint glass.

Sophie Allinson, defending, said Cowen had decided to get behind the wheel to leave the scene and diffuse the situation and had accidentally struck the car.

Miss Allinson added: "The two parties were winding each other up and egging each other up in the pub.

"All of it was tit for tat. It's not the defendant who escalates the situation from a verbal argument to physical one as she swills the defendant, which is slang for throwing her drink over him.

"Had the defendant not behaved in the manner he did, the injured party could have been prosecuted. But, he picks up a champagne glass - he disputes it was a pint glass - in the heat of the moment and throws it."

Cowen was given a 24-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and was ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work to pay the victim a total of £1,820 in compensation.

He was also fined £1,188, was banned from the roads for 16 months and must pay £85 costs and a £119 victim surcharge.

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