Thug attacked woman in row over ‘mess’

Aaron Ebanks, 29, started shouting at his victim and "saying her house was a mess" then lashed out "like a man possessed" when he visited her home in Jarrow in September 2018.

As a result of the violence, the 38-year-old victim was left with "very unpleasant injuries" including two black eyes, bruising to her arms and a swollen lip.

Prosecutor Neil Pallister told Newcastle Crown Court: "She said the defendant was brandishing a fork, which did make contact with her face, but didn't cause her any injury." Ebanks, of Otto Terrace, Sunderland, denied assault, but was found guilty after a trial at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court.

Judge Robert Spragg sentenced Ebanks to eight months behind bars.

The judge told him: "You punched her to her face and arms. You picked up a fork and waved it around, although she said in her evidence you did not injure her with that.

"There were very unpleasant injuries."

Mr Pallister told the court Ebanks and the victim had formed a relationship only about a month before the attack.

He told the court: "He went to her address and started shouting at the complainant, saying her house was a mess.

"She describes him looking like a man possessed."

Ebanks punched her in the face and arms, while armed with the fork.

She was left with bruising and swelling to both eyes, a swollen lip and bruised arms.

The victim said in a statement: "I felt really scared. He has really hurt me.

"I have low self-esteem and he has made me want to kill myself. I don't want him anywhere near me."

Penny Hall, defending, said Ebanks denies he had a full relationship with the victim and claimed they were "friends with benefits".

Miss Hall said Ebanks has a significant leg injury as a result of being the victim of a hit-and-run, for the second time, and has spent long periods in hospital having painful treatment.

Ebanks had claimed during his trial that he had just restrained the woman after she had drank too much because her dogs were biting him.