A tourist attacked his partner in a tent in Exmouth after an argument about a rabbit.

David Emery left victim Kimberley Tilley with a black eye and broken rib after the violent struggle when they were wild camping near Exmouth.

The verbal argument started with a row about what to do about a rabbit which disturbed them at night and developed into a fight in which he hit and strangled her as she tried to fend him off with a wine bottle and a tent peg.

She fled the scene wearing only one shoe and walked to Exmouth where she took a train to Exeter and was seen in a state of distress by transport police and given medical help.

She had massive swelling to her right eye, a cracked rib, extensive bruising to her body, and marks around her neck.

Police found Emery in the tent the next morning and he also had a bruised face. He claimed initially that he had been acting in self-defence.

Emery, aged 34, formerly of Locking, Weston-super-Mare, but now living in a Salvation Army hostel at Coomberdale, Bristol, admitted assault causing actual bodily harm and was jailed for nine months, suspended for two years by Recorder Mathew Turner at Exeter Crown Court.

He ordered him to do 100 hours of unpaid community work, 25 days of rehabilitation and sent him on a 30 session Building Better Relationships course. He imposed a 120 day alcohol monitoring requirement and banned any contact with the victim under a two year restraining order.

He told him:”It is accepted that this was a tempestuous and toxic relationship in which there had been violence on both sides and that on the night there was an altercation when you were both heavily in drink.

“It may have been spontaneous to some degree but was a persistent and prolonged incident. The fact you were under the influence of alcohol is am aggravating factor.”

Mr Nick Lewin, prosecuting, said the assault came to light on August 18 last year when British Transport Police at Exeter St David’s station saw Ms Tilley get off the last train from Exmouth while wearing only one slipper and with obvious facial injuries.

They asked her if she had been assaulted and she replied ‘a little bit’ and went on to describe being punched in the face and then on the body when she raised her hands to protect herself.

Mr Lewin said: “She said she had been assaulted in a tent about five minutes’ walk from the station. She had become upset about a rabbit they found in the woods and there had been an argument about that which resulted in him becoming aggressive and punching her.”

Emery has five previous convictions for domestic violence or public order offences going back to 2010 from courts in North Somerset and Bristol.

Simon Burns, defending, said Emery suffers from a borderline personality disorder, depression and anxiety and has a long history of alcohol abuse.

He said the toxic relationship with Ms Tilley was characterised by excessive drinking and she had been convicted of assaulting him just four months earlier.

The relationship is over and Emery has voluntarily tackled his alcohol problem during four months living at the Salvation Army hostel. He has also stayed out of trouble for more than a year.