He avoided prison by the 'skin of his teeth' for beating his partner up... and he's escaped again

A man who repeatedly breached a restraining order imposed as part of a suspended prison sentence for attacking his partner has been spared jail - again.

Stephen Partington, 40, a joiner, was told by a judge in 2021 he had avoided going straight to jail 'by the skin of your teeth' after he admitted beating his partner. He hit her during a drink-fuelled row, causing her to fall and hit her head on a door.

The father was handed a three-month suspended prison sentence and was made the subject of a five-year retraining order.

On Friday (February 16) he was back in court in front of a different judge who spared him a jail sentence after hearing his then partner had taken him back but then reported him to the cops after the relationship ended once more.

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The defendant repeatedly breached the order, contacting the woman with telephone calls and texts, between December 2021 and February the following year, prosecutor Matthew Todd told Manchester Crown Court.

After the relationship broke down again, the woman contacted police on March 3, 2022 - only for Partington to breach the order again by contacting her the next day.

Partington, who had three previous convictions to his name, 'deliberately' breached the order which the court had imposed for a 'domestic violence related incident', said Mr Todd.

Michael Johnson, defending, said that 'unbeknown' to police and prosecutors the relationship had resumed before his client was handed his sentence and restraining order.

Had the authorities been aware 'that would have had a bearing on whether an order would have been made and what the terms would have been', said Mr Johnson, who added: "The reality is that