COVENTRY MAN JAILED FOR BRUTAL PARTNER ASSAULT AND BITING

A man identified as Andrew James has been convicted and sentenced for assaulting his partner, Jeanette Forsyth, causing serious injuries. The incident took place in their Coventry home after a night of alcohol consumption and an argument. James, aged 45, from Joseph Latham House, Riley Square, Coventry, was found guilty by a jury at Warwick Crown Court of causing actual bodily harm to Miss Forsyth. The jury rejected his claim that he was acting in self-defence during the assault. Judge Andrew Lockhart QC sentenced James to 27 months in jail following the verdict. Prosecutor Naomi Nelson-Cofie detailed that the assault occurred in April last year during a visit to friends' home in Dillotford Avenue. Both James and Miss Forsyth, who had two children with him, consumed alcohol and became somewhat intoxicated. Later that evening, after returning home around 10pm, Miss Forsyth was in the kitchen holding their youngest child when James questioned her about a joke she shared with a friend. Miss Forsyth said she wanted him to leave, expressing she had 'had enough.' According to Miss Nelson-Cofie, James then became threatening, stating he was going to kill her. She described how he took a steak knife and stabbed her in the head with a downward motion, causing a cut to her head. The assault didn't stop there; while still holding her young child, James punched her three times in the face and then bit her nose, which Miss Forsyth believed he was trying to bite off. Following the attack, Miss Forsyth managed to escape to a friend's house with her children, where police were called. She sustained a bite mark, cuts, swelling to her nose, a cut to her forehead, and bruising around her eyes. She was taken to hospital but did not require immediate treatment, later receiving a tetanus jab for the bite. James was detained by authorities a few days after the attack. He admitted hitting Miss Forsyth but claimed it was in self-defence, stating she had a knife and that he grabbed the knife's blade, injuring his hand. However, the jury found his account unconvincing, taking less than an hour to reject his version of events.