A drunken man punched his girlfriend in the face following a boozy Christmas Day romp after he mistook her for a burglar, a court heard.
Ian Campbell, 45, had been drinking heavily on Christmas Day last year when he met a barmaid and invited her back to his flat.
After the pair ”became intimate” she told him she was going home but the pair were so drunk that they both fell asleep.
When Campbell, from Coventry, woke he saw his date preparing to leave and punched in her in the face six or seven times after mistaking her for a burglar.
Campbell admitted one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and was slapped with a 12 month community order and ordered to carry out 150 hours unpaid work
Sentencing Campbell at Coventry Magistrates’ Court Recorder David Herbert said: ”Quite what you thought you were doing when you assaulted this woman I don’t know.
”But it appears that you are very embarrassed by this offence and quite frankly you should be. It’s clear though that everything that has happened is out of character.”
The court heard that the woman fled following the attack while Campbell went back to sleep and only realised his mistake when he woke with sore fists.
Prosecutor Sarah Hammond said: ”When he woke he realised what he had done and who he had done it too. He wrote an apology letter.
”He accepts hitting her but refutes kicking her. He is also very remorseful.”
