PAUL Holland carried out a sustained attack on his girlfriend after she slapped him and threw his clothes out of the bedroom window.

Magistrates at Bury heard that Holland, 32, and his barmaid girlfriend, Sarah Harrison, had been for a drink after she finished her lunchtime shift.

Anna Morris, prosecuting, said the couple got into an argument in the pub but things calmed down and they carried on drinking together.

When they returned home to Ramsbottom the row resumed and escalated to the point when Miss Harrison threw Holland's clothes out of the window and then slapped him.

She said he reacted by punching her several times about the head. She ran downstairs and called the police.

Holland followed her and resumed the attack, smashing up the phone, apparently not realising she had already rung 999, said Mrs Morris.

Miss Harrison was bitten, punched and kicked in the chest. She suffered scratches, bruising and swelling.

Harrison, who gave his address as Bolton Road West, Ramsbottom, pleaded guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm.

he told the court: "We'd had a drink, there was an argument and it got out of hand."

They had been together for about a year and he had been told she still wanted to make a go of things. he said she had wanted to retract her statement but had, he claimed, been talked out of it by the police.

The case was adjourned to November 26 for pre-sentence reports.