Eastwood man beat his partner in the face with a trainer at Christmas

Brett James' partner noticed a change in his behaviour after he stopped taking his tablets over the Christmas period last year, said prosecutor Daniel Wilshaw.

"He began gaslighting her and making sly comments about her weight," he said.

When she told him the relationship was over, the defendant stood up and slapped her on her left cheek.

She told him to leave and went upstairs, but when she returned a few minutes later James dragged her to the floor and struck her four times in the face with a trainer.

She said the pain was incredible and she felt her eye swell up, Mr Wilshaw added.

In a statement, James' partner of two years said "the whole experience of being in a relationship with him left her traumatised and dejected”.

"She doesn't know how someone could be so cruel towards her," she said, adding that their relationship ended on the day of the incident, Friday, December 30.

James, aged 42, of Mansfield Road, Eastwood, denied assault occasioning actual bodily harm but was convicted following a trial at Mansfield Magistrates Court on July 31.

Sentencing was adjourned for a probation report which noted that James still denied any wrongdoing.

Magistrates decided the sentence exceeded their powers and committed the case to Nottingham Crown Court on September 19.

James was bailed on condition he doesn't contact his victim or go to her address in Sutton.