A man who assaulted his girlfriend in an argument sparked by a text message has been ordered not to go near her for a year.

Stuart Dyer, 36, of Victoria Place, Bourne, Lincolnshire, grabbed both arms of his then girlfriend before pushing her on to a sofa, where she caught her hair and banged her head in an incident on April 11.

The incident took place at the woman's Great Yarmouth home at around 5.30pm, with the pair arguing in the bedroom after Dyer had been drinking, Great Yarmouth Magistrates' Court heard on Friday.

The argument had been sparked by a text message, and saw Dyer grab the woman and push her into the lounge, and then on to the sofa.

Stacie Cossey, prosecuting, told the court Dyer then left the house, only to return for another argument about his property.

It was then that police turned up to arrest Dyer, who began swearing at them and was arrested after being warned about being abusive.

The victim was left with marks on her arms, with a picture of her injuries being shown to the court.

Dyer initially denied offences of assault by beating and using threatening or abusive words or behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.

He changed his plea to guilty in court.

Mark Newton, mitigating, said Dyer had not intended to harm the victim, but she had hit her head accidentally when he pushed her on to the sofa.

He said Dyer was also advised to plead not guilty in the first instance, and understood it meant his guilty plea would receive less credit.

Sentencing Dyer, lead magistrate Dr Pierre Butikofer, said the incident was 'very serious'.

'It's a very serious offence and we were looking at a community order.

'The victim was clearly distressed and suffered a lot of trauma,' he said.

Dyer was ordered to pay compensation of £600, costs of £300, and a £100 fine.

He was also given a restraining order not to contact the victim for a year, as well as not attending her home address.