A POSTMAN pushed and kicked his partner during a ‘nasty row’ after a day of Christmas shopping.

Christopher Philip William Hooper, of Trinity Place, Neyland, was sentenced to unpaid work hours by Haverfordwest magistrates on Wednesday, January 2.

Hooper, 44, pleaded guilty to assaulting his partner by beating her on December 21, and the offence also put him in breach of a 12-month conditional discharge imposed in August for an incident involving the same victim.

Abul Hussain, prosecuting, said mobile phone footage showed the woman being pulled to the ground and deliberately kicked.

Hooper stated that he had over-reacted when his partner came up into his face.

The bench heard that the victim had not suffered any injures during the incident, and did not support the prosecution.

Mike Kelleher, defending, said Hooper did not fully recall everything that had happened, adding that an argument had started about him favouring his ex-wife because he was supporting their children.

“It was a nasty row," he said.

“Clearly it should not have escalated as it did and Mr Hooper apologises for that.”

Mr Kelleher added: “There was no injury and there is no complaint. There was no pre-meditation, but there was provocation.”

“Despite what happened, both wish the relationship to continue.”

Probation officer Mark Brosnan told the court that the couple had been drinking together while out Christmas shopping, and an argument started when they returned home, after the victim made remarks about Mr Hooper’s previous relationship.

Mr Brosnan said: “He is very, very remorseful for what happened on that day. A contributing factor was the consumption of alcohol, he said he would have dealt with the situation differently if he had not been drinking.”

Mr Brosnan added that the couple planned to sit down and discuss how to avoid incidents of this nature happening in the future.

Magistrates imposed a 12-month community order with a 20-day rehabilitation activity and 175 hours of unpaid work.

He was also ordered to pay £85 court costs and an £85 surcharge.

The chairman of the bench said: “It was a somewhat prolonged incident, and a kick is deemed a serious matter.”