A thug who attacked his girlfriend in the street has walked free from court after magistrates told him a community sentence is ‘tougher’ than prison.
Toby Hayden, 27, hit his partner of two years in a drunken rage when a cash machine told him he had insufficient funds to withdraw money.
He repeatedly punched Loretta Butterworth, 22, in an assault that ended only when passers-by heard her screaming ‘please help me’.
But despite being on a suspended sentence for a previous violent crime, magistrates sentenced him to an 18-month community order with 200 hours of unpaid work and ordered him to complete an anger management course.
Miss Butterworth, who had once considered having children with Hayden, said he had ‘no remorse’ and criticised magistrates for letting him off.
She said she looked ‘like a zombie’ after the attack and still has the outline of a footprint on her forehead.
She added: ‘When I found out that he had walked free my heart sank. I was shocked and angry.
‘He definitely should have gone to prison. He had previous convictions, he had been violent to people before, he was on probation when it happened.
h/t Mail Online
