A BOOZY man who ‘instinctively’ punched his former girlfriend in the face, knocking out two front teeth, has been handed a suspended jail term.
Phillip Anying, of Headstone Road, Harrow, swung his fist at ex-partner Denise Singleton’s head at her home in Willesden Lane, Willesden, on May 1, following what his solicitor characterised in court as a ‘raging argument’.
The 32-year-old was arrested and admitted common assault two days later at Hendon Magistrates’ Court. He was sentenced on Thursday last week at the same court.
Peter Moore, for Anying, said: “He accepts that he used unreasonable force. He says contact was instigated by her and he went round and gave her some very bad news, that he had found a new girlfriend.
“That predicated a large argument between the two. Both had been drinking.
“He said she slapped him hard across the face and instinctively he threw this punch, which caused her to lose two teeth.
“She had hoped to resume the relationship. That didn’t happen.
“He realises that he was having a serious drink problem and perhaps if he hadn’t have been drinking, he could have controlled his temper.”
The magistrates gave Anying 20 weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, on account of his guilty plea, and imposed a two-year supervision order with a requirement to attend an anger management course and to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.
He was ordered to pay compensation of £500 to the victim.
