A bully punched his girlfriend in the ribs leaving her badly bruised, and then tried to get away from police when they arrested him, a court heard.

Terry Dannie, 48, hit the woman at her home in Maidstone Road, Rainham, in December.

When police went to the house two days later because of an ongoing domestic incident, the woman said she had previously been slapped across the face and punched in the ribs by Dannie.

When officers asked him to leave the property, he became aggressive and abusive and ran off when they tried to arrest him. Officers had to call for back-up to detain him and get him in the police vehicle.

Dannie was later charged with assault by beating and obstructing a police officer in the execution of his duty.

He denied the allegations when he first appeared before Medway magistrates but later changed his pleas to guilty and returned to court for sentencing after reports had been prepared.

Magistrates were told the woman he punched was so scared of him she had an emergency code she would text to a friend when she needed help.

Her victim impact statement said Dannie was nice at times but when his temper rose she was particularly frightened of him.

The court also heard Dannie became abusive toward officers when they tried to handcuff him and he lashed out and managed to run away.

When they got him to the police station, he was aggressive and verbally abusive.

Magistrates were told Dannie has previous convictions dating back to 1988 for offences including grievous bodily harm, criminal damage, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, assault on police, harassment, common assault on a child and threats to kill.

Dannie, of Stonewall, Beckton, London, was jailed for 100 days suspended for a year. He must also do a course on building better relations and complete 20 rehabilitation activity days.