Suspended jail sentence for Cullybackey man who kicked girlfriend

Defendant Jordan Stewart also threw stones at his girlfriend, hitting her in the neck, and threw a hair brush towards her.

A prosecutor previously told Antrim Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena, that around 1.10pm on June 1 this year police were tasked to an “ongoing domestic assault” at a phone box at Kilmakevit Road.

Police saw the woman who said five minutes earlier her boyfriend, the defendant, had been verbally abusive and had kicked her in the stomach making it hard for her to breathe.

She told officers the defendant had followed her to the call box and took a phone from her and threw a hair brush at her which smashed on the ground.

Stewart (22), of Kilmakevitt Road, then “threw stones at her neck and chest,” the court was told, but no injuries were recorded by police.

During a police interview the defendant said he had “argued” at the phone box and tried to “trip” his girlfriend and thought he “caught her on the leg but not on the stomach”.

Defence solicitor Stewart Ballentine said the woman has now “reconciled” with the defendant.

Mr Ballentine said the defendant has expressed remorse.

The solicitor claimed a row had developed on the date in question when the woman had indicated she was going to live in a hostel and Stewart “lost his temper”.

The lawyer said Stewart had apologised and hopefully had learned from the “one-off” incident.

District Judge Nigel Broderick said courts take a “very dim view” of domestic violence.

Stewart’s limited record and no injuries being noted on the victim meant the defendant would not be jailed, the judge said.