Boozy man gets a community order after he hit his pregnant partner

Lewis Dickens, 22, of School View, North Wingfield, at Chesterfield, hit his partner in Clay Cross after the couple had been out together, according to a Chesterfield magistrates’ court hearing on September 6.

Prosecuting solicitor Sarah Haslam said the woman made a call to police in silence and she called the operator back as she was walking home with her drunk partner and he could be heard shouting.

Mrs Haslam added that Dickens’s partner suddenly shouted out in pain and said she had been punched in the back.

Dickens was obstructive as police tried to arrest him, according to Mrs Haslam, and he was shouting and held on to a bannister and had to be taken to the floor and restrained.

He told police he had not been drinking for five months but had gone out and had five pints of lager and he could not remember what had happened.

Mrs Haslam added that the victim, who is pregnant, does not support the prosecution and she wants the relationship to continue.

The court heard that police had previously received two call-outs concerning this couple.

Dickens pleaded guilty to assault by beating and to resisting two police officers after the incident on August 17.

Defence solicitor John Cavanagh said: “He accepts he behaved in an entirely inappropriate way and he’s extremely sorry and accepts this sort of thing cannot continue to happen.”

Mr Cavanagh added that Dickens’s partner is pregnant and also has three children from previous partners.

Dickens claimed he had pushed his partner and not punched her, according to Mr Cavanagh who added that the assault had not affected her pregnancy.

Magistrates sentenced Dickens to an 18 month community order with a Building Better Relationships programme and a Rehabilitation Activity Requirement with 80 hours of unpaid work.

Dickens must also pay an £85 victim surcharge and £85 costs.