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A drunken boyfriend knocked out his disabled partner after she stayed up to watch late night TV, a court heard.

David Bester, 48, from Torquay, was the registered carer for his girlfriend but punched her in the face during an unprovoked attack.

He pressured the victim not to tell paramedics who arrived at the scene to treat the bloodied victim and then told police she had fallen in the bathroom and caused her own injuries.

Bester eventually admitted his guilt and was sentenced to 20 months in prison for causing grievous bodily harm.

The judge was told the victim still suffers nightmares about her former partner's attack and needed a metal plate inserted into her face to support a broken eye socket.

Prosecutor Gorden Richings said the incident happened in October last year.

The pair had been in a relationship for about a year.

Bester, an alcoholic, started to moan about a headache and said he was going to bed. His partner asked him if it was okay for her to stay up. The defendant said she could do what she liked and left, only to return about five minutes later.

"He punched her hard to the face and she lost consciousness," said Mr Richings.

"She came round about five minutes later and there was blood on the floor."

Bester had called an ambulance and was tending her injuries, which included a two inch cut above her eye.

He told the woman not to tell police or paramedics. She initially did as he asked but the relationship eventually broke down and she informed police what had really happened.

Bester told police she had slipped in the bathroom and the case was due to go trial. He later changed his plea to guilty and was sentenced at Exeter Crown Court.

In a statement the victim said: "Since the time of the assault I've suffered lots of nightmares and see David hitting me. I keep thinking will the nightmares ever end."

She said she was scared of seeing the defendant again and suffered headaches because of the assault.

Ann Bellchambers, defending, said Bester had been 'making a very good job' of changing his ways. He was attending Alcoholics Anonymous and very sorry for what had happened. The assault was out of character and he had no previous convictions for violence.

Judge Paul Dunkels QC said Bester had attacked a vulnerable victim who he was supposed to caring for and who suffered from physical and mental health problems.

"You had been kind to her but that changed," said Mr Dunkels.

Bester was told he was serve half of his 20 month sentence in jail and the rest on licence. He has already spent six months in custody.

The court imposed a restraining order banning him from contacting the victim.