A MAN who gave his ex-partner a black eye and then resisted police who tried to arrest him has been jailed for 23 weeks. Lawrence Cardwell, 20, punched Nicola Barton in the face after the couple had been out drinking in the city. Police went to arrest him

A MAN who gave his ex-partner a black eye and then resisted police who tried to arrest him has been jailed for 23 weeks.

Lawrence Cardwell, 20, punched Nicola Barton in the face after the couple had been out drinking in the city.

Police went to arrest him, but when they tried to take his cigarette away, he struggled and pulled away.

"Because of the size of him he was taken to the ground and put in leg restraints," Ely magistrates were told by prosecutor Angela Sassoli on Thursday.

Cardwell shouted and threatened to head-butt an officer, and when he was put in a vehicle he continued to be aggressive and abusive. A police officer suffered two cuts to his ear during the struggle.

Cardwell had previously denied assaulting 18-year-old Nicola Barton and a police officer. But before his trial was due to start on Thursday he admitted assaulting his former partner and resisting the officer.

"He had met his ex-partner purely by chance outside a pub in Ely," said Mrs Sassoli. "They try to keep in contact because they have a child, and they had a drink together."

The couple argued on the way home, she said, and as Miss Barton sat on a bench, Cardwell called her a bitch and punched her in the face.

Mitigating, Sandeep Kainth said Cardwell and Miss Barton had drunk "a fair amount" before the incident and got into a "heated discussion." The injury to the officer had been accidental.

Cardwell, formerly of Soham but now living in Lancashire, was ordered to pay £150 compensation to Miss Barton, £100 to the police officer, and £150 costs.