A GROUNDWORKER from Chippenham, who called 999 after assaulting his girlfriend, has blamed his alcohol consumption at family party for his actions.

Mark Anthony Smith, 28, of London Road pleaded guilty to beating Emma Vines at their home when he appeared before North Wiltshire Magistrates on Thursday (Sep 22).

Prosecutor Davis told the court how Smith, who has a set of twins with Miss Vine, became jealous after a family friend approached his partner outside The Bear Hotel on May 21 shortly after the family party.

She told the magistrates: “On the evening of the incident they had been to a family party at the Bear Hotel and they had a really good evening but he was drinking quite heavily. She had someone looking after the twins for the night and while they are stood outside the hotel a family friend comes over and starts talking to her. Her cousin had also got ill that night so she had offered to take her cousin’s children who are nine and twelve back to the house.

“After the two girls had gone to bed and her twelve-year-old son was asleep, he started asking questions about the man who spoke to her outside the hotel and got angrier and angrier and suddenly he hit her in the face. It was so unexpected, she fell to the floor and had pain to the right side of her face. When she got up she grabbed a wicker heart and swung at him in fear.

“The two girls came down and he told them to go back upstairs to bed and he called 999 and admitted to hitting his girlfriend and asked to be arrested.”

The court also hear how after calling 999, Smith grabbed a kitchen knife from a draw and only put it down when the two girls came back downstairs.

Defending himself, the 28-year-old said: “Alcohol doesn’t agree with me. I have never drunk Kronenberg in my life and that was what I was drinking that night.

“When I am on alcohol, I am stupid really. I haven’t drunk since this incident and I have been working and paying for my children and I start my new job on Monday. After we have rekindled, there has been no drink involved and it feels right you know?”

The court heard how he continued to apologise to Miss Vines after the incident and how he wanted to undertake the Build Better Relationship course so that he could better himself. His partner, who was sat in the public gallery, also told the magistrates how he had turned his life around.

After retiring to deliberate for fifteen minutes, the chair of the bench told Smith he got credit for calling 999, for showing genuine remorse, for getting a job and turning his life around.

He was given an 18 month suspended sentence, a rehabilitation requirement of 30 days including the Building Better Relationships programme and ordered to pay costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £115.

As Smith thanked the magistrates, the chair of the bench said: “We do not want to see you in court again.”