Dad, 22, BIT his ex-girlfriend and fractured her mother's chest bone during a ‘tug-of-war’ over child

Jackson Hennessey, 22, of Hartlepool’s Dent Street admitted assaulting his ex-girlfriend by biting her arm.

He also admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm by elbowing her mother in the chest resulting in a fracture to the chest bone.

Joanne Hesse, prosecuting at Teesside Magistrates’ Court, said Hennessey had originally denied the offences, but changed his plea to guilty on the day of the trial.

She said the assaults took place on August 21 last year when Hennessey’s former partner refused to reconcile with him and they started to argue while the defendant had hold of their toddler child.

Ms Hesse said: “He said he was going to take their daughter to Manchester.”

The prosecutor said his ex-girlfriend had phoned her mother who was standing in the doorway to prevent him from leaving the house with the child.

She said: “He elbowed [his ex-partner's mother] in the chest and barged her out of the way.”

Ms Hesse said the ex-partner put her arm around Hennessey to try to prevent him from further injuring her mother and he bit her forearm.

He then left the house with the child.

The two women were left in pain and went to hospital where an x-ray showed the fracture to the mother's chest bone.

In her victim statement, Hennessey's ex-partner said: “Since the incident I have cried nearly every day and I have nightmares about the incident.

“I don’t like leaving the house by myself in case I bump into him.”

Stuart Haywood, defending, said: “What we have is a tug-of-war situation between Mr Hennessey, his former partner and her mother. They were trying to keep hold of the child.”

He said his client accepts that he did lash out in temper at the two women.

Mr Haywood said: “I would say that the real vulnerable person was the child in the middle of it all.”

Hennessey was given a prison sentence of 23 weeks, suspended for 18 months, and told to pay a total of £500 in compensation. He was also made the subject of a two-year restraining order not to contact either of the women.