Mansfield man thumped partner over toilet row

Jake Gregory began shouting and blaming the woman after she woke him up, on the morning of March 4.

She went outside in her dressing gown and he came out into the garden in a rage, said Donna Fawcett, prosecuting,

“She knew if she went back inside she would be assaulted,” said Ms Fawcett.

“She was terrified but knew she had to stand her ground.”

Gregory tried to drag her inside and there was a struggle, and he punched her in the middle of her back.

The woman told police: “I want Jake to know he assaulted me. When he goes off like he does I think me and my daughter aren’t safe.”

She said she was glad he admitted the offence, because “it would give him an opportunity to get help and become a good father.”

Sarah Neale, mitigating, said Gregory’s anger got the better of him, but he denied throwing a second punch, once inside.

“He contacted her to say she needed to collect the child because it was in a baby seat,” she said.

The court heard their relationship began after meeting on Snapchat, in June last year, even though Gregory was on a curfew after coming out of prison.

“It was supposed to be a one-night stand,” said Ms Fawcett. “While he was in prison, she discovered she was pregnant with their daughter. They moved into her mum’s house.”

Gregory, 26, of Mayhall Avenue, Mansfield Woodhouse, admitted assault when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Wednesday.

District judge Jonathan Taaffe told him: “This was a disgraceful piece of behaviour.

“Your partner has been subjected to a physical assault with a young child present,”

He gave Gregory ten weeks in prison, suspended for one year, and ordered him to pay £85 court costs and a £30 government surcharge.

You can read more of the latest Mansfield court cases here.