A dad-of-two assaulted his girlfriend after breaching a restraining order to get back into a relationship with her.
Anthony David Jones, 35, and the woman were in an on-off relationship for two years but it broke down in December 2020, when he was convicted of battery against her.
Following that incident, a restraining order was imposed, prohibiting Jones from contacting the woman until July 2022.
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But in March 2021, they began to rekindle their romance and he would stay at her home on weekends, prosecution barrister Suzanne Payne told Bolton Crown Court.
On August 8, they went to Manchester for a bottomless brunch and later headed into Bolton town centre.
Both “drank a great amount” throughout the course of the day, Ms Payne said.
While in a bar, the woman hit a balloon which in turn hit Jones, and he angrily walked out.
Jones, who had the woman’s key, went back to her house in Farnworth.
She rang a friend to pick her up and take her home and also called her dad.
After arriving at the house, the woman told Jones to leave but he went inside and they argued.
The woman told police that during the argument, Jones hit her in the face, which caused her to stumble and fall onto the floor.
Jones claimed that he barged past her with his arm raised.
The woman’s dad had also turned up at the house and as he tried to grab Jones, he was pushed over and landed on top of his daughter.
Jones then shouted “she hates you, she knows you abandoned her” at the man.
Eventually Jones calmed down and left the house with his belongings.
As he left, the woman’s dad claimed that Jones said “you call the police and I’ll torch”, something Jones denies.
On August 10, Jones sent the woman 31 emails and sent more the following day.
One of the emails was a photograph taken inside her home, which showed a card from the police.
After this email, the woman did not want to go back home that night and she went to her mum’s house while she waited for police to arrive.
While waiting for the police, Jones rang the woman five times from a withheld number.
In a victim personal statement, the woman said that she feels “trauma bonded” to Jones and is “afraid to move forward without him”.
She added: “I’ve always been frightened of putting him in jail.
“I don’t want to hurt him but something has to be done because his temper is uncontrollable.
“I’ve forgiven him but this time it’s different and I’m not willing to do it anymore.”
Jones, of Fenman Mews, Walkden, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, battery, and four counts of breaching a restraining order.
Estelle Parkhouse, defending, told the court that Jones had been remanded in custody since handing himself in on August 24.
She said that the woman was “complicit” in the resumption of the relationship but that Jones “should have known better”.
“He did love her and wanted to be in a relationship with her,” she said.
“He accepts it’s over and wants nothing more to do with her”.
Ms Parkhouse added that Jones had a troubled upbringing and is “impulsive” after a drink, but that he is a “very active” father to his two children from a previous relationship and is “genuinely remorseful”.
The Honorary Recorder of Bolton Judge Martin Walsh sentenced Jones to 21 months imprisonment, suspended for two years.
He also imposed a restraining order forbidding Jones from contacting the woman or her dad for three years.
