POLICE officers found a woman who was assaulted by her partner in her Carlisle home standing on the doorstep, initially so distressed she was unable to speak.

The call-handler who took the woman’s 999 call on March 12 had earlier listened in as the incident between the woman and her partner unfolded, with her crying audibly and asking why she deserved to be slapped.

Daniel Hamilton, 30, later admitted assaulting the woman, causing her actual bodily harm. Prosecutor George Shelley outlined the facts.

He told Carlisle’s Rickergate Magistrates’ Court the alarm was raised when the victim made a silent emergency call to the police at 4.30am. As the call handler listened, the defendant was heard saying the blood in the property was his.

He was also heard claiming he was the one who was assaulted, not the woman. “The call handler could hear her crying, and she clearly sounded scared,” said Mr Shelley.

“She asked why she deserved to be slapped and said he’d been going at her all day long.”

Police were able to locate the property involved from the call and arrived at the house a short time later.

As they arrived in the area, a neighbour told one officer: “It sounds like they’re coming through the walls.”

The victim was standing on the doorstep as police arrived, visibly shaking. “She was initially unable to speak due to her level of distress,” said Mr Shelley.

Taken to The Cumberland Infirmary, the woman was found to have suffered extensive bruising – to her arms, legs and she had a black eye and pain in her cheekbone.

The court heard that Hamilton had 33 previous offences on his record, but no violence. In August last year, he was, however, given a community order for possessing an offensive weapon.

Duncan Campbell, defending, said the history of the couple’s relationship was relevant because some time before the incident the defendant was assaulted by his partner when she bit his finger 'virtually to the point of it being removed.'

He needed three operations to repair the damage, said Mr Campbell.

When they disagreed on the night of the assault, the defendant said the woman again bit his finger, but not as badly. But he reacted inappropriately rather than absenting himself from the situation, said the lawyer.

“He's extremely remorseful,” added Mr Campbell. The defendant was also now looking more positively to the future and knew exactly where he had gone wrong.

District Judge John Temperley said the assault was aggravated by the domestic context and also by the fact that the defendant had consumed alcohol. The offence was so serious that there would have to be an immediate jail term.

He jailed Hamilton, of Beverley Rise, Harraby, for ten months. When released, the defendant will have to pay a £187 victim surcharge.