Man jailed for assault on man and attack on partner

Warren Anderson, 28, was imprisoned for his role in the beating and a separate incident where a woman said she was strangled until she feared she was about to die.

District Judge Fiona Bagnall said there “could easily have been much more serious consequences” for both victims.

Anderson, of Montrose Street in the city, was convicted of two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, threats to kill and criminal damage.

Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard he was involved in attacking a man outside a food and drink store on the Newtownards Road on February 14.

CCTV footage showed Anderson and an accomplice approach the victim and knock him to the ground.

A prosecution lawyer said he was also kicked and rendered unconscious in what she described as an unprovoked attack.

The victim was taken to hospital, but has no memory of the assault.

He sustained facial and rib injuries, as well as cuts and bruising to his head and face.

The prosecutor also disclosed: “He lost consciousness for ten to fifteen minutes.”

Four days earlier police had been called to an address in Belfast amid claims Anderson had attacked his partner during a drunken argument.

Officers discovered blood on the kitchen walls and floor, along with extensive damage to furniture.

The woman’s face was bruised and covered in dried blood, her eye swollen until it was nearly closed, and a gash to the back of her head, the court heard.

“She said he repeatedly strangled her to the point she thought she was going to die,” the prosecution lawyer added.

Anderson claimed the woman fell when he tried to restrain her after she smashed a bottle over his head.

Passing sentence, Judge Bagnall cited aggravating features in both attacks.

A child was present in the house during the domestic assault, while the man had been targeted outside the shop without provocation.

Ordering Anderson to serve a total of 18 months in prison, she said: “Both deserve immediate custody, and that’s where I’m taking them.”