A Colchester man who left the imprint of the sole of his training shoe on his former partner’s face after standing on her during a row has been jailed for 21 months.

Sentencing 48-year-old Leon Sinclair, Recorder Jeremy Benson said: “You went round to your ex-partner’s house to see your son and there was an argument.

“During the argument, you grabbed her by the throat and punched her twice in the face. She fell to the floor and you continued to punch and kick her in the head with a shod foot.

“A bruise on her face matched the tread pattern of the trainers you were wearing.

“As a result of the violence, your ex-partner had a nasal fracture and bruising around the eyes and face which lasted for several weeks.

“The courts, unfortunately, have experience of an incident such as this which ended in the death of a person who came to be on the ground and was kicked in the head."

Sinclair, of Church Lane, Colchester, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm on his former partner on January 8 this year.

The court was shown photographs of the victim’s injuries including bruising to both sides of her face, her forehead, two black eyes and a footprint on her face from Sinclair’s trainer.

In a statement read to the court, the victim said the bruising to her face had taken weeks to fade and she had been embarrassed to go out.

In a letter to police after the attack, Sinclair said he had snapped and lashed out during an argument and was “utterly ashamed” of what he’d done.

In addition to being jailed, Sinclair was banned from contacting his former partner.

Mitchell Cohen, for Sinclair, said his client had been in custody for five months and had served the equivalent of a ten-month prison sentence. He said the assault on his former partner had not been planned and was a “sudden explosive” incident during an argument.

Sinclair had expressed genuine remorse and didn’t blame his former partner for what happened in any way.

Mr Cohen handed four references to the court from people who spoke highly of him.