Man jailed for ‘degrading’ assault on girlfriend
Dale Knappett
A MAN who kicked down a toilet door before assaulting his girlfriend has been jailed.
Dale Knappett, 28, left his partner Claire Cheshire with a broken cheekbone after the attack at the Bird in Hand Motel in Beck Row.
On Monday Knappett, of Mill Park Gardens, Mildenhall, who admitted assault causing actual bodily harm, was jailed for 18 months at Ipswich Crown Court.
Judge John Holt told him: “The circumstances of the assault were degrading.”
The court heard how Miss Cheshire had been in a relationship with Knappett since September last year but had become concerned that he was becoming aggressive and violent.
Prosecutor Michael Crimp said that on May 16 the couple had gone to the motel where they both spent time drinking and arguing.
When Miss Cheshire went to the ladies’ toilet to get away from Knappett he followed her and kicked a cubicle door off its hinges before assaulting Miss Cheshire who was inside, said Mr Crimp. She had to later undergo facial surgery.
Mr Crimp said that Knappett had a number of previous convictions, including one in February last year for harrassment.
Defending, Malcolm Plummer said that Knappett believed that Miss Cheshire’s broken cheekbone had been caused by the door when he kicked it and not by him striking her.
Knappett said Miss Cheshire was refusing to speak to him after they had argued and he kicked open the door.
In addition to jailing Knappett, Judge Holt granted a restraining order prohibiting Knappett from contacting Miss Cheshire or going within 200 metres of her home for the next three years.
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