Husband jailed after fracturing wife's eye socket during argument in Bedlington

Richard Jagger, 34, had been drinking from around 7.30am on March 5 before his wife joined him around three hours later at the property in Bedlington.

Newcastle Crown Court heard that the pair began arguing before the violence erupted.

Michael Bunch, prosecuting, said: "As the morning went on the couple began arguing about people who had liked posts she put on Facebook and who had been sending her messages.

"The defendant began to look through her phone without her permission."

The court heard Jagger started to lose his temper and told the woman he was leaving the address.

Mr Bunch said that the woman accepted she tried to slap the defendant on the arm or chest, as he was exiting.

Mr Bunch added: "He then pushed her away and thereafter started to punch her to the face below her left eye four to five times.

"She was forced to hide her head in a settee."

A neighbour's attention was alerted to the incident when Jagger asked them for a lift, and the police were called shortly afterwards.

Jagger, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm.

The court heard that, at the time, he was also under a suspended sentence period for assaulting the same victim and an offence of criminal damage.

Afterwards, the woman said she felt "anxious and scared" that Jagger would assault her again.

Mark Styles, mitigating, said: "The defendant struggled with substance misuse.

"He's been in custody for two months now and has had time to reflect on his situation.

"Things went badly wrong around the Christmas period. His father-in-law passed away and his own grandfather died shortly thereafter."

Taking into account the suspended sentence, Mr Recorder Simon Goldberg KC jailed him for one year and five months.