A MAN who threw an ornament at a woman's head during an argument has been spared jail.

Magistrates at Newton Aycliffe Court yesterday heard that Kim Robinson needed five staples in her head after she was attacked in her home by George Albert Harrison.

Harrison, 43, of Bertha Street, Ferryhill, pleaded guilty to unlawfully and maliciously wounding Ms Robinson.

Richard Cowen, prosecuting, said a violent argument had broken out between the pair at Ms Robinson's home in Spennymoor on September 18, last year.

During the course of the argument, Mr Cowen said, Harrison punched and kicked Ms Robinson.

At one point, she was thrown face down on the sofa and received a blow to the back of her head which caused her to black out.

When she came round, she was bleeding from a quarter-inch cut on the back of her head, and an ornament which had been on the sideboard had been smashed and lay in pieces around her.

Michael Clarke, mitigating, said both parties had been drinking and Ms Robinson had invited Harrison round to her house by text message, following an earlier argument between the pair.

Mr Clarke said his client admitted throwing the ornament at Ms Robinson.

However, he denied it was used as a weapon to hit her on the back of the head.

He added that Harrison had been very upset since the incident and had been unable to work because of anxiety and stress.

The bench chairwoman, Margaret Cunningham, said she felt the offence did not merit custody and sentenced Harrison to 200 hours unpaid work and a 12-month community order.

Harrison was also ordered to pay £200 compensation to Ms Robinson and £80 court costs.