King's Lynn man jailed after admitting two assaults on girlfriend

A Lynn man who assaulted his then girlfriend twice in a 10-day period has been jailed for 14 weeks.

Wesley Hardy, 26, of London Road, had initially denied two counts of assault, and two other charges of criminal damage.

But he changed his plea to guilty when he appeared before magistrates today, ahead of the start of a scheduled trial.

He also admitted being in breach of a conditional discharge imposed for an earlier offence.

The court heard that Hardy had gone to the woman's home on June 3 this year and slapped her following a disagreement. He also punched a hole in a wall. Police were called and Hardy was interviewed, though he claimed he could not remember what had happened.

Ten days later, on the evening of June 13, Hardy returned to the woman's home despite being on bail with conditions not to contact her.

Then, he punched the woman and overturned a coffee table. A neighbour saw the woman looking distressed outside the building as she contacted police, the bench heard.

Mitigating solicitor Alison Muir said it was "quite apparent" that alcohol had been a factor in both cases.

She told the bench Hardy, who was remanded in custody following the second incident, was now taking steps to tackle his drinking.

She added: "He now realises that if he carries on in this way he's going to keep going to prison and keep making people frightened of him and that's not how he wants to live his life."

As well as the prison term, Hardy was told to pay £250 compensation and made the subject of an 18 month restraining order.