A man dragged his partner by her hair after smashing her window following an argument between the pair.

Police found Ben Challender in the bedroom of his partner's property in Bury where he had grabbed a hammer and smashed a window on March 26 this year.

Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard he had grabbed the victim and pulled her towards the broken glass.

The victim was not seriously hurt but the defendant was left with a cut to his hand which required stitches.

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Brian Threadwell, prosecuting, said Challender has no previous convictions but had received cautions for "unrelated matters" including the possession of cannabis.

Challender, 24, pleaded guilty to one count of common assault and one count of criminal damage to property valued under £5,000.

Benjamin Ramsey, defending, said Challender, who has since moved to Durham, had broken the window after the victim smashed a games console belonging to him.

He said: “Clearly this is an escalation of something rather petty in terms of damaging each other’s property.”

“He says he wants to move on with his life.”

Concluding the hearing, Judge Corbett-Jones said Challender, of Orchid Drive, Bury, had acted in a “wholly disproportionate and wrong manner.”

He added: “You’d been in a relationship for a period of 18 months, it is plain that the two of you had a significant disagreement on this afternoon, causing damage to a valuable item.

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“In the course of the argument that you were having, you grabbed hold of her by her hair and moved her towards the window, narrowly avoiding coming into contact with that broken glass.

“You have no previous convictions, I will be minded to deal with matters by a non-custodial sentence.”

Judge Corbett-Jones concluded that Challender was at a low risk of reoffending and sentenced him to a community-based order of 18 months.

He was ordered to undertake a building better relationships programme, 12 days of rehabilitation requirement and 60 hours of unpaid work.