AN alcoholic whose partner needed five stitches in a cut to her head after he hit her over the head with a jug during a row has been jailed for 12 months.

Stephen Miller had lunged at Annita Stobbs and grabbed her throat making it hard for her to breathe before pinning her down on a bed during an argument after the couple had been drinking, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Ms Stobbs had kneed Miller in the groin to get him off her, and he had stood up and grabbed her by the hair, said Michael Crimp, prosecuting.

Miller had then picked up a jug of cold water, poured it over Ms Stobbs and hit her over the head with the jug.

Ms Stobbs had fallen to the floor and although she hadn’t lost consciousness she had felt dizzy and realised her head was bleeding.

The incident had taken place in Ms Stobbs’ flat in Burrell Road, Ipswich and after the incident Miller had run back to his own accommodation in the building while Ms Stobbs knocked at a neighbour’s door and asked for help.

She was taken to hospital where she had five stitches in a cut on her head.

Miller had later told police he had been drinking.

Mr Crimp said it was not clear if the jug used in the incident broke and he said it was more likely to have been a plastic jug rather than glass.

Miller, 47, admitted unlawfully wounding Ms Stobbs in July and was jailed for 12 months.

Mr Crimp told the court that Miller had two previous convictions for assaulting Ms Stobbs for which he had ben given a community order and a suspended prison sentence.

Christopher Paxton for Miller said his client had been in a relationship with Ms Stobbs for two years. He said the relationship had been “fraught and tense” and had been characterised by verbal arguments which became physical from both sides.

Mr Paxton said Mller regretted losing his temper in the early hours of July 8 but said his emotions had been building up during an argument between the couple and he had also been drinking.

He said the contact with the jug to Ms Stobbs’ head been reckless rather than deliberate and hadn’t been premeditated.

He said Miller had been an alcoholic for a number of years and his relationship with Ms Stobbs was now over.

What do you think can be done to curb domestic violence? E-mail starletters@archant.co.uk or write to Star Letters, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN.