An 82-year-old man who assaulted his partner to the point of hospitalisation has been spared jail.

The court heard that Frank Sier, of Lupin Ride, Crowthorne, choked the woman and punched her repeatedly following a row over a grandfather clock.

The victim suffered bleeding on her brain, and was hospitalised.

On June 19, Reading Crown Court heard that Sier was already serving a suspended sentence for attacking his partner on a previous occasion.

He came to court with a packed bag, expecting that Judge Neil Millard would send him straight to jail.

Sier pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The facts of the case were set out by prosecuting barrister Jasmine Leng.

On August 23 last year, Sier visited his partner and invited her out on a shopping trip.

This was in breach of a restraining order which prohibited the defendant from contacting the woman.

After returning from the shops, there was an argument over a grandfather clock, with Sier accusing the woman of maintaining it poorly.

This culminated in a physical altercation.

Mrs Leng said: "He [Sier] applied pressure to her throat, punched her twice. He grabbed both her arms, causing them to bruise."

The following day, the woman was picked up by a minibus for a trip out with other pensioners.

Staff raised the alarm, as she appeared distressed - and she subsequently disclosed that Sier had beat her.

After being arrested over the assault, Sier told police: "I can't believe I'm in this mess."

Defence barrister Robert Slinn told the court that Sier was 'terrified' about going to prison, having already spent time on remand.

He told the court: "Mr Sier is an elderly man who is becoming increasingly more vulnerable by the day. He expresses real fear of returning to a custodial environment that he spent two months in.

"What he wishes to do is return to the home that he now lives alone in, and put this episode of his life behind him."

In the end, Judge Millard decided against jailing Sier - who appeared distressed throughout the sentencing hearing.

Instead, he handed him another one-year sentence, suspended for 20 months.

The judge stressed that Sier's age had nothing to do with his decision - instead emphasising that he could be managed effectively in the community.

He said that the existing restraining order could protect Sier's partner, who he is no longer living with.

Judge Millard told the defendant: "You have no contact with her [the victim]. You've complied well with probation, and you have experienced an effective four-month custodial sentence."