A WOMAN beater who breached a restraining order on the day he was handed a community sentence for attacking two women and placed on an electronically tagged curfew was jailed.

Craig Clarke, 38, of Medway Court, Bettws, Newport, defied the law and harassed one of victims just after leaving the city’s magistrates.

The 38-year-old was locked up for more than six months after he pleaded guilty to breaching his restraining order and breaching his community order.

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Clarke had been sentenced to a 20-day rehabilitation activity requirement, a six-month curfew to stay at his address between 8pm and 6am and ordered to pay £175 in costs and a surcharge.

That was imposed after he admitted assault by beating against two women and breaching his restraining order on March 18.

But he defied the 12-month community order relating to domestic violence that same day.

Clarke was hauled back before Newport magistrates, who jailed him for a total of 29 weeks for breaching the restraining order again and ignoring the community sentence.

The court heard he was being sent to prison because the offence so serious only a custodial sentence could be justified.

Magistrates said Clarke had “been given the opportunity to work with the Probation Service to try to bring about change” and the case was “was aggravated by the defendant's record of previous offending”.

He must also pay a £122 victim surcharge upon his release from custody.