A MAN who assaulted his girlfriend has been spared a prison term after a plea to magistrates by the woman concerned.

Wirral magistrates heard Victoria Griffiths was attacked by Michael John Aylward.

As the boyfriend approached her she flagged down a passing taxi and went to the police station for refuge, prosecutor Howard Cartwright said.

Mr Cartwright alleged Michael John Aylward, 24, punched Ms Griffiths and banged her head against a wall during an argument in Birkenhead.

In an interview with police, he claimed Ms Griffiths started fighting with him and he restrained her.

Aylward, of Bodiam Court, Stanney, admitted common assault on Griffiths. His solicitor John Weate said alcohol was the real problem.

In passing sentence, magistrates said they noted a request by Ms Griffiths that Aylward was not given a prison sentence, and that the two were now leading separate lives.

Aylward was ordered to pay his former partner £100 compensation and to pay £45 costs.

The magistrates imposed a 12-month rehabilitation order and a 100-hours community punishment order.