A DUNBAR man battered his partner over the head with a mobile phone at the couple’s home.

Darren Phillips assaulted the woman by repeatedly striking her to the head with the device at an address on Pikeman Crescent on June 4.

The incident was reported to the police and Phillips was arrested and charged with assault.

He appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in June, where he pleaded guilty.

The 54-year-old was back in the dock for sentencing last week, where the court was told that the couple had been living apart since the assault due to court-imposed bail conditions.

Sheriff Iain Nicol told Phillips “these types of offences often attract custodial sentences” but was told that his partner was not in favour of a non-harassment order being imposed.

The sheriff said that he had “options in this case” that allowed him to move away from imposing a jail term and instead issued Phillips with a community-based sentence.

Phillips was placed on a 12-month supervision order and told to complete 60 hours of unpaid work.

The sheriff also imposed a conduct requirement where Phillips will have to engage with alcohol testing services when required to do so by his supervising officer.