Man who punched ex-partner unconscious and took their son jailed for seven months

A BELFAST man who attacked and left his ex-partner unconscious before allegedly taking her phone and money has been sentenced to seven months in jail.

Prosecutors said Raymond McCrory (32) carried out the assault in the home his ex-partner shared with their three-year-old son. He was later bailed.

McCrory, of Brittons Drive in the city, was told the boy’s presence in the house was a strong aggravating factor.

Belfast Magistrates Court heard violence flared following a dispute about the child.

A Crown lawyer said the woman was in the kitchen on a phone call to a friend when McCrory en- tered the property and punched her to the head. She fell to the ground before being grabbed by the hair, according to the prosecution. Her friend could hear her screaming, a man shouting and a child crying.

The woman said she lost consciousness, waking up later in the bathroom with no recollection of how she got there.

Her son was no longer present, while a mobile phone and a purse containing £15 had also allegedly been taken.

Police located McCrory and the child at another address.

He pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and theft.

A defence barrister acknowledged the seriousness of the attack, but insisted it had not been witnessed by the child who was in a different part of the house.

“There’s a certain irony that the defendant goes to the house because he has concerns about the child’s welfare,” counsel added.

But district judge Fiona Bagnall held that the case crossed the custody threshold.

She said: “He left this lady in a state where she seems to have lost consciousness. The facts are so serious, but further aggravated by a young child in the house distressed by hearing the impact of this violence on his mother.”

Imposing seven months imprisonment, she agreed to release McCrory on bail pending an appeal against the sentence.

He is banned from contacting the injured party or entering a designated area.