A 43-year-old Hare Krishna devotee has admitted attacking and threatening to kill his partner when an argument “exploded” into violence.

Richard Peacock was sentenced to five months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to pay his now former partner £500 compensation.

At the time of the offences he was living with the woman in a house on the Geaglum Road near Derrylin, adjacent to the Hare Krishna Temple on Inish Rath Island on Upper Lough Erne.

A prosecutor told Fermanagh Court that on November 24, last year, police received a report from the injured party that she had been assaulted by her partner around 10.40am. She said he had attempted to strangle her during an argument. The mother of three had swelling and bruising to the right side of her forehead and bruising to her left eye, which was beginning to blacken. She also had bruising on her neck and said she had been bleeding from her nose.

The prosecutor said the woman told police she and Peacock had a argument in the kitchen and she slapped him in the face. She knew that what she did was wrong and went to leave the kitchen but he struck her several times in the face. She went to the bathroom, thinking her nose was broken. When she came out of the bathroom he attacked her again, grabbing her by the throat and pulling her to the floor. She said she could not breathe and thought she was going to die. She said Peacock told her he was going to kill her. She asked him to leave and he did.

The court heard that Peacock was arrested and admitted grabbing the injured party by the throat and pulling her to the floor. He claimed she had provoked him.

Defence solicitor Reggie Ferguson told the court Peacock accepted that this was a “disturbing incident and very distressing for the injured party”. He bitterly regretted what had happened and expressed remorse when interviewed by the police and again in court.

“To a certain extent he can’t believe what happened,” said Mr. Ferguson.

He explained that Peacock is from England and both he and the injured party are members of the Hare Krishna religious movement.

“The relationship started 12 months ago and he lived with her for about seven months and this just exploded,” said Mr. Ferguson.

“He related well to her three children, who, thankfully, were not witnesses to this,” the solicitor added.

The court was told that Peacock is not the children’s father.

Mr. Ferguson said Peacock had told him the injured party was going through a difficult divorce and had issues with her previous partner.

Peacock believed this led to his relationship with the injured party becoming very strained, particularly on the weekend before this incident, when she was “very abusive towards him and quite provocative”.

He had not been well and on the Monday they were going to a Hare Krishna event and were in this narrow kitchen when “it kicked off again” and they “had words”.

“She slapped him across the face and unfortunately he reacted,” Mr. Ferguson told the court. “He doesn’t dispute the injuries caused. When he was asked to leave, he got up and left.” Peacock subsequently returned to England to live with his parents.

“It’s not his intention to have contact with the injured party,” said Mr. Ferguson, adding that: “He wishes her well.” The solicitor said Peacock has had a lot of support from the Hare Krishna community and his friends.

Mr. Ferguson pointed out that Peacock was remanded in custody at the time of the offence and spent two weeks in prison. He found the whole matter “very traumatic”.

District Judge Nigel Broderick told Peacock: “I hope you understand that the court takes any domestic violence very seriously and any assault by a male on a female will be dealt with robustly.” He acknowledged that Peacock had spent two weeks in custody, expressed remorse, had a clear record and would be given credit for admitting his guilt, allowing a trial to be cancelled.

“Had it not been for those factors then I would readily have imposed an immediate custodial sentence,” he added.

He said that taking all matters into consideration he believed the appropriate sentence to be one of five months, suspended for two years.