Bulwell man kicked ex-partner from Hucknall in stomach and claimed he acted in self-defence

CCTV at Bulwell train station captured Mark Briggs attacking the woman at 2am on December 16, said Annelli Pritchard, prosecuting.

She said the 36-year-old yanked her to the ground by her hair before repeatedly punching and kicking her.

Hannah Spicer-Short, mitigating, said Briggs denied pulling her hair or punching her and said those actions couldn't be proven as they were partially screened by a ticket machine.

She said: "The kick was more in the way of saying ‘come on, let's go home’.

“It was the mix of a complicated relationship.”

She said the woman, from Hucknall, broke off their five-month ‘on-off’ relationship that night after an evening out.

"He felt a little bit used,” Ms Spicer-Short said.

“He was upset and confused, she told him to f*** off.”

She said he had struggled with his mental health after losing his job in the building trade at Christmas.

The court heard he has previous convictions for domestic violence from 2011 and received a suspended sentence for actual bodily harm in 2020.

Briggs, aged 36, of Newmarket Road, Bulwell, admitted assault by beating when he appeared at Nottingham Magistrates Court, on Wednesday.

Distict judge Gillian Young told him ‘a kick is a kick’ and said she couldn't rule out custody.

The case was adjourned for pre-sentence reports until June 5 and Briggs was bailed on condition he doesn't contact his victim or attend her home.