A JUDGE has described a man’s behaviour as ‘absolutely appalling’ after he drunkenly kicked a teenage girl in the face, breaking her braces.

Darren Moore, 53, assaulted the young girl on January 5 this year after a drunken dispute with her mother in Abingdon.

After kicking the girl in the face, he also assaulted her mother by grabbing her around her neck and forcing her to the floor.

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Moore was charged with one count each of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and assault by beating and was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on Tuesday (April 30).

Sentencing him to 18 months imprisonment, suspended by two years, Judge Michael Gledhill said: “Your behaviour was absolutely appalling.

“Going out after work and getting plastered and going back to the house and having a tiff and losing your temper and assaulting a child…it’s totally unacceptable.”

During the sentencing, it was heard that Moore had been drinking at a pub when his partner picked him up at abut 6.15pm.

The pair then argued when returning home and Moore began getting upset and shouting.

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His partner went upstairs with her daughter but Moore followed and continued to shout and punched an airing cupboard door.

The 15-year-old asked if she should call for help and in response, Moore kicked the girl in the face, cutting open her top lip and breaking her brace.

Moore then pushed his partner to the ground and straddled her, his arms around her neck. She tried to flee downstairs but he grabbed her, forcing her to fall back.

After the incident, the teen was taken to hospital over concerns about a head injury as she had begun vomiting.

In a victim impact statement, the teen said she was ‘scared and in tears’ during the incident and now gets fearful when she sees a van similar to Moore’s.

She added that she often cries at school.

Defending Moore, of Rowlands Park, Weymouth, his barrister explained that the incident was a result of ‘misuse of alcohol’ which Moore states ‘he finds very difficult cope with’.

It was also heard that Moore had intended to kick the phone out of the teen’s hands and had accidentally hit her face.

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His barrister added that Moore misses his former partner following this incident.

Sentencing, Judge Gledhill said: “You’ve been out of trouble for some time and have done what you could to put alcohol use behind you.”

He was also ordered to complete 30 programme sessions, five rehabilitation activity days and 140 hours of unpaid work.