Corby woman left with facial injuries after abusive boyfriend tried to 'eject her from flat'
A Corby man has appeared in court to be sentenced for actual bodily harm after injuring his girlfriend following a late-night dispute.
Ben Moir, 28, had been in an on-off relationship with the woman when she came round to his flat on September 19 last year.
But a neighbour ended up calling the police after hearing her screaming and him shouting that his partner was a ‘re****’
Northampton Crown Court heard that the relationship between Moir, of Croyde Avenue, Corby, and the woman had ended twice previously. She was at his flat on the night in question and both had been drinking.
The court was told that Moir slammed her into a wall, then shouted at her for damaging the wall.
In the woman’s account, Moir then grabbed her by her cheeks and dragged her around the flat. He then grabbed her by the neck and put his hands over her mouth to stop her from screaming before she managed to run out of the flat.
Police found her leaving the flat. Her injuries included bruising to her nose, lacerations to her mouth, a cut lip and scratches on her thigh.
Moir denied her account and told police he did not grab her cheeks.
Charges of assault and intentional strangulation were dropped but Moir did admit ‘contact’ with her neck in order to remove her from the flat. He pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Mitigating for Moir, barrister Paul Webb said that he had thought that his relationship with his partner was ‘back on an even keel’ but that he had caught her messaging another person on social media on the night in question.
"He wanted to eject her from the flat. He grabbed her and tried to push her from the flat but she kicked the wall,” said Mr Webb.
"He accepts his behaviour was abusive and beyond what was appropriate in the circumstances.”
Mr Webb said his client had abstained from alcohol since that night and had no previous convictions.
He described how Moir had had a ‘difficult start in life’ after the tragic murder of his father John Moir, in Corby, in 2004 when he was just seven-years-old. He said that the family had left Corby for a fresh start but he eventually returned to the town.
Moir’s barrister told the court that he did not want to pay compensation to his victim. However, Recorder Louise Cox ordered him to pay her £200.
He was given an 18-month community order which will included 35 rehabilitation activity days, 100 hours of unpaid work, and 120 days of alcohol abstinence monitoring. A restraining order was put in place for five years.