A CARLISLE man battling to prevent a proposed ban on him seeing his girlfriend after she accused him of biting her during a row directed a rude comment at a judge as he stormed out of court.

Gary Ferguson, 32, aimed the comment at a district judge who had just heard evidence of the defendant’s alleged violence towards his partner and banned him from contacting her for 28 days.

Cumbria Police lawyer Tom Young set out why the force was applying for a domestic violence protection order against the defendant.

He described how at 8.30pm on March 16 Cumbria Police had received an emergency call from the defendant’s partner in which she said that Ferguson had assaulted her by biting her ear during an argument.

She talked about part of her ear “hanging off.”

“She also said that Mr Ferguson had beaten her up earlier that week. The officer noticed blood and a laceration on [the woman’s] earlobe.” As a result of this, Ferguson, who smelled of alcohol, was arrested but there was no prosecution.

Mr Young said the woman did not support the making of a domestic violence protection order. “That only serves to underline her vulnerability and her inability to take steps to protect herself in the relationship,” said Mr Young.

The lawyer said that over the last year there had been nine reports of domestic incidents made to the police and on each occasion Ferguson was the alleged perpetrator and the woman the victim.

Mr Young described some of those incidents.

In one, Ferguson allegedly dragged the woman out of her bed and on to the floor by her hair while in another incident on August 24 last year he allegedly strangled her and punched her in the face.

In yet another incident, on May 24, Ferguson was accused of grabbing the woman by the neck, pinning her to a sofa, and punching her to the head. Mr Young also outlined Ferguson’s past criminal history.

This included assaults on emergency workers, battery, and an actual bodily harm assault. “He is quick to lose his temper and capable of using significant violence,” said the lawyer, pointing out that this can be in a domestic context and often when Ferguson is under the influence of alcohol.

Mr Young added that the woman the proposed order sought to protect was “highly vulnerable” and a 28 day ban on contact would allow both her and Ferguson “breathing space” to seek support.

Representing himself, Ferguson told District Judge John Temperley he did not assault the woman and that her ear injury was the result of a dog jumping up and biting her. “It wasn’t me,” he said.

Fergson said the police officers involved had “presumed” he was in the wrong.

He complained about the amount of time he had to prepare for the hearing, saying: “I should have been given more legal time. He also suggested that the district judge could  not make such order when it was not supported by the alleged victim, which is not the case in law.

“I’ve been given ten seconds to prepare my defence,” he said.

Told by the district judge that he had in fact been given the required 48-hour notice that the order was being applied for, Ferguson shook his head, stood, and declared that he knew what was about to happen - and then he began to leave the court.

Giving his ruling, District Judge Temperley said that he was satisfied on the balance of probability that Ferguson had been violent towards his partner and that he had assaulted her by biting her ear.

It was clearly necessary to protect the woman, said the judge. Even though the woman appeared unwilling to accept help at this stage, it was also clear that she needed help. The judge approved a 28-day order.

The judge pointed out that even if the woman arrives at Ferguson’s address, she was not allowed to be there under the terms of the order and should this happen the defendant would be arrested.

As he walked out of court, Ferguson, of Stonegarth, Morton, Carlisle, commented: “You can stick your order up your ****.”

The judge concluded the case by ordering that Ferguson must pay the £970 Cumbria Police costs of bringing the case, though the defendant had earlier said costs did not matter to him because it would "come out of his benefits anyway."