A MAN who attacked his former girlfriend twice in a week before trashing her Brierley Hill home has walked free from court.

Recorder Anthony Warner told Stuart Bell it was serious offending because he had left his victim with bruising and a badly blacked eye. At Wolverhampton Crown Court Bell was sentenced to six months jail.

But he said the sentence would mean the immediate release of the 34-year-old because Bell had spent four months in custody since his arrest by police.

The Recorder told Bell: “It is quite clear she sustained some serious injury," he added, the defendant had clearly been under the influence of alcohol when he committed the crimes.

He said the long term effects on his ex-partner would continue and Bell was a man whose previous convictions included violence directed towards an earlier girlfriend.

Bell, of Hopyard Gardens, Bilston, admitted two charges of common assault and also criminal damage. His barrister, Jas Mann, said his client was full of remorse for his actions.

The Recorder further made Bell the subject of an unlimited restraining order forbidding him from having any contact with his former partner or going anywhere near her home in Robin Hood Road, Brierley Hill.