A MAN whose girlfriend felt ‘utterly powerless’ to stop him as he grabbed her throat and slapped her has been given a six-week suspended prison sentence.

Kelvyn Evans, aged 40, of Worle Moor Road, began arguing with his partner Hannah Searle after he returned home from an evening of drinking with a friend.

Ms Searle said she could ‘sense’ an argument brewing as soon as Evans returned home and during the assault she could ‘see in his eyes’ he was ‘not fooling around’.

Prosecuting, Ian Dowes, said: “The parties were living together.

“She was sat down and she says the defendant started to grab hold of her Kindle.

“She ended up on the floor. She tried to get back onto the sofa but he was restraining her.

“He grabbed her throat and squeezed. She didn’t believe he was trying to strangle her, just scare her.

“She managed to break free and the defendant then slapped her hard across the left cheek and pushed her up against the sofa.”

Ms Searle’s victim statement says: “During my two and a half years with Kelvyn we have always had verbal exchanges.

“I have always felt able to control the arguments.

“I could sense when he came through the door he was in an argumentative mood.

“I had been reading a book on my Kindle when without warning he grabbed my hands with his.

“I could see in his eyes he was not fooling around and that scared me.

“I was in pain from the position he held me in. I felt utterly powerless to stop Kelvyn.”

Evans pleaded guilty to assault by beating when he appeared at North Somerset Courthouse last Thursday. He told the court: “I have not touched a drop (of alcohol) since.

“Me and Hannah are trying to work through this together. She has been a big backbone to me, I am extremely grateful to her and I’m very sorry this ever happened and it will never happen again.”

Evans was given a six-week prison sentence, suspended for two years, and was ordered to pay an £80 victim surcharge, £85 prosecution costs and a £150 court fee.