A final chance was handed to a Speedwell man convicted of assaulting his partner a second time. But a judge spared Emmanuel Farquharson from an immediate jail term by a whisker and said he would not spare him again.
Farquharson, 38, of Whitefield Road, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He also admitted breaching a suspended prison sentence handed to him for a previous battery on the same complainant.
The Recorder of Bristol His Honour Judge Peter Blair QC imposed a 24 weeks jail term suspended for two years. He told Farquharson: "By a hair's breadth I am persuaded that it wouldn't be right to activate the suspended sentence today. This is one final opportunity."
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The judge fined Farquharson a total of £240 and ordered him to pay a £154 victim surcharge. He also said he needed to go on a building better relationships course.
Neil Treharne, prosecuting, told Bristol Crown Court Farquharson was abusive to the complainant on a night out. Later, when she walked home, he accosted her - grabbing her hair, grabbing her around the throat and dragging her into a road.
The court heard Farquharson took the victim's bag and phone, she lost her shoes and ran barefoot to a friend's home. Mr Treharne said: "She rang her phone and the defendant started laughing.
"He told her 'you were that f****** scared you left your shoes on the floor'. He was asking her to come home."
The complainant ended up going to her mum's home, the court heard. She had sustained a swollen and bruised neck and cut feet.
Farquharson had 86 convictions for 190 offences. They included assaults on police and grievous bodily harm when he was a juvenile.
Catherine Spedding, defending, said her client had been working extremely hard to conquer drug addiction. He admitted having problems with alcohol use but had managed to secure his own flat.
Miss Spedding told the court: "He is at a turning point in his life. There is potentially a real prospect of rehabilitation.
"He wants to make a good life for his partner, who he clearly loves, and she loves him as well."
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