Tilney All Saints man Ben Gray who punched partner, threw wine bottles at her and stole purse avoids prison sentence

A 29-year-old who punched and assaulted his ex-partner on numerous occasions and stole her purse full of cash has avoided going to prison.

Ben Gray, of Glebe Estate in Tilney All Saints, appeared at Lynn Magistrates’ Court on Thursday when he was sentenced for a total of five offences.

Gray previously denied all of these but changed his plea to guilty.

He admitted two counts of criminal damage, assault by beating, assault causing ABH and theft from another person.

Prosecutor Abdul Khan told the court that the offences took place from June 1 to September 26 last year.

On September 7, Gray had been drinking with his then-partner at her property. An argument soon broke out and he was told to leave by the woman.

She saw Gray using her mobile phone without her permission and the argument escalated further. She threatened to phone the police and Gray then “lunged” towards the woman and grabbed her phone.

He also pulled her hair, causing a clump to fall out, and the woman’s phone to smash.

Gray then grabbed hold of two bottles of wine and threw them towards the woman. Police soon arrived and arrested Gray and took him to Lynn’s Police Investigation Centre for questioning.

Later, on September 26 at 4.30am, Gray attended the woman’s address to collect some of his belongings.

The woman let him in and while he was inside, he took the woman’s purse which was left on the side. It contained £300-400 of cash inside.

He was confronted about this by the woman, then took the purse out of his pocket to show the woman before putting it back in there.

He then punched the woman in the mouth, causing it to bleed.

The victim requested a 24-month restraining order, which was granted by magistrates.

Mr Khan said that Gray has committed previous similar offences in the past.

However, in mitigation, George Sorrell told magistrates that Gray had turned a corner in his offending and had been seeking help from the probation service.

“Before I met with him, I was a little bit concerned that he has previous ABH convictions.

“The theft wasn’t very nice but the defendant has since returned the purse with all of the money inside of it.

“The defendant has had difficulties with relationships that have been caused by alcohol.”

Mr Sorrell said that Gray has been seeking help for his mental health issues and is looking to start working again as a scaffolder.

“It is clear to me after speaking to him he is well-motivated to change his life and put his past actions behind him.”

Gray was given a 42-week prison sentence, which was suspended for two years.

Magistrate William Hush said: “Because there is a glimmer of hope in your probation report and that you’re telling us that you are changing your ways, we are going to suspend your custodial sentence.

He will also pay court costs of £300 and a victim surcharge of £187.