A MAN who headbutted his partner blamed the attack on work pressures.

Stephanie Dransfield was left with a bleeding nose after she challenged Ross Selley over his lack of attention to their family.

He was lucky to escape jail when he appeared before Kirklees magistrates yesterday.

Bill Astin, prosecuting, said that on September 24 the couple were at home at Church Lane in Clayton West with their two young children.

An argument broke out between Selley and Miss Dransfield and this lasted for several hours.

During the course of this row, she accused the 25-year-old of not pulling his weight about the house.

Mr Astin said: “In anger she called him a ‘s*** dad’ and he told her: ‘You’ll regret that’.

“The defendant grabbed her by the jaw and headbutted her nose.

Miss Dransfield, who also suffered reddening to her jaw line, called police.

Selley left the house but agreed to return on the request of officers.

He claimed that he had tried to leave the house during the argument but his partner had prevented this by standing in the doorway.

Selley admitted the attack and was released on conditional bail, which banned him from contacting Miss Dransfield.

But he was arrested after ignoring these conditions twice, by texting her and then requesting her as a friend on Facebook.

Marnat Ali, mitigating, said that his client had been under a great deal of pressure at work.

He explained that Selley has a construction company which employs five others, which is struggling in the current economic climate. Mr Ali said that his work has had a knock-on effect on Selley’s home life.

Mr Ali said: “He works long hours and that’s caused some strain on his relationship.

“She doesn’t like him working longer hours but he has to work these hours for wages to be met.

“The question is do you jeopardise your income or do you jeopardise your family time?

“It’s a very difficult situation to find yourself in and it’s in that background that this incident took place.”

Mr Ali added that his client had a “momentary loss of control” and expressed remorse for his actions.

The solicitor told that magistrates that both bail breaches had been accidental.

He said that the text Selley sent read: “Thinking of you, hope you’re ok. Love Ross.”

Mr Ali said that this message had been meant for Selley’s mother who was due in hospital for a CT scan, but on autopilot this had gone to Miss Dransfield.

He said that his client didn’t know how the friend request came to be sent to her.

Magistrates were told that the couple are no longer together and Miss Dransfield wished no further contact with Selley.

The bench gave him a 12 month community order, made as a direct alternative to custody.

This includes a 30 day activity requirement and 80 hours of unpaid work.

Magistrates also told Selley, of Woodhead Road in Lockwood, to pay £85 costs and that they were granting a restraining order for on year.

This bans him from contacting his ex or going to the family home.

He is allowed contact with his children, but only via a third party.