5:13pm Wednesday 8th September 2010
By Martin George
A man who broke his New Malden girlfriend’s nose and left her to take herself to hospital for an operation has been jailed for 18 months, despite her courtroom plea for leniency.
Mark Chane, 32, of Winslow Way, Feltham, pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm to his girlfriend of six years on April 13, 2010.
Kingston Crown Court heard Chane, his girlfriend and her mother had a late night drinking binge the night before, and he became violent when the mother tried to wake him the following morning.
Kathy Hirst, prosecuting, told the court he threw coasters at his girlfriend, cutting her face, after which she went downstairs to seek help from a neighbour, but no one was there.
Ms Hirst said: “Mr Chane asked why she had gone downstairs and then punched her in the face. Her nose was dripping with blood.
“She drifted in and out of consciousness and took herself to hospital where a fractured nose was diagnosed. I understand there was an operation with general anaesthetic.”
Chane, a labourer, initially denied involvement in the incident after he was arrested on April 25, claiming he had been at work.
Defending Chane, Michael Orsulik said both he and his partner accepted alcohol was at the root of the problems in their relationship, and he was still on the waiting list to attend an alcohol awareness course imposed by magistrates when the assault took place.
The court heard Chane’s previous offences included assault, shop lifting, battery and carrying an offensive weapon, and that Kingston magistrates imposed an order restraining him from damaging his partner’s property or harming her last December.
His partner, who had asked for charges to be dropped and wrote a supportive letter to the judge, took the witness stand to ask for a lenient sentence.
She said: “He did not mean to lash out. There was an argument before we went to sleep. He is a nice person when is not drunk. I see my long term future with him.”
Before sentencing him to 18 months in prison, Judge Martin Binnings told Chane a jail term was inevitable, particularly as he had previous convictions for assault and his girlfriend had needed an operation.
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