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A judge has questioned the future of a marriage as she freed a woman prisoner, who kicked and punched her boyfriend unconscious, after being told she planned to marry him.

Kayleigh Blunnie, 30, has been in prison pending sentence for assaulting Vincent Nicholson on May 3.

The "sustained" attack left the boyfriend with a fractured nose and cheekbone requiring a medically-induced coma to treat.

Blunnie, of Shawbridge, Harlow, had pleaded guilty at Chelmsford Crown Court to inflicting grievous bodily harm.

(Image: Google)

But Judge Emma Peters told her she was going to give her a chance to make good of her earlier efforts in jail to better herself.

Outlining what she described as an "exceptional course", Judge Peters imposed a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years.

"Mr Nicholson is in court [supporting you] and he must want to marry you in the way you want to marry him," the judge said.

"I wonder what the future of a marriage is where there has been this background between them. Not an ideal start for a relationship."

The judge said the attack, which followed a row over Blunnie flirting with another man, was a "sustained assault."

"You punched and kicked him, some of the time while he lay unconscious on the ground," she said.

Blunnie had 46 previous convictions, mostly for dishonesty and disorderly behaviour.

She was ordered to undertake 60-day rehabilitation activity requirement, a nine-month drug rehabilitation programme and a Thinking Skills programme.