A MAN has been given a suspended sentence after assaulting a woman so badly she became 'an emotional wreck', a court heard.

Shane Mulhall, 24, of Anchorite Road, Kendal, pleaded guilty to one charge of assault by beating when he appeared at South Lakeland Magistrates Court. He was handed a 16 week custodial sentence, suspended for a year.

The court was told that after spending the evening at a night club in Kendal, Mulhall and his victim, Helen O'Brien, went home where he became aggressive.

Miss O'Brien tried to film his behaviour on her mobile phone but he snatched it out of her hand before putting both hands around her neck and 'squeezing so hard that she found it difficult to breath'.

He then let go of his victim before punching her in the head 'three or four times' while she was curled up in a ball on the sofa.
A friend of Mulhall then came to the house in an attempt to calm the situation down but Mulhall proceeded to stamp on Miss O'Brien's foot.

Mulhall then called the police and reported that he had assaulted a woman.

A victim statement read to the court by Nicola Corney, prosecuting, said: "I was an emotional wreck after it. Now I find it difficult to sleep and I have been having nightmares that centre around the incident and I feel like I relive it every time. I am very emotional about what happened."

Mulhall claimed not to remember every detail of the incident but, according to his defence lawyer, Chris Evans, he 'accepts that he slapped and punched the complainant'.

In his defence, Mulhall claimed his violent outburst came after 'a build-up of pressure' and that he is 'ashamed and disgusted by what took place'.

When passing sentence, Mrs Stamper, chair of the bench, said: "This is a very serious offence on a young girl. You have admitted that you have struck her to the face and put your hands around her neck and stamped on her foot. For that offence we are going to hand a custodial sentence of 16 weeks but we are going to suspend that sentence for 12 months because you called the police and co-operated with them and showed remorse."

Mulhall was also ordered to pay £200 compensation to Miss O'Brien and ordered to attend the Cumbrian Alcohol Awareness Course.