A MAN with a history of violence has been given a lifeline by a judge after he was sent home and told: “if you carry on abusing alcohol and drugs you are heading in one direction”.

Dean Stanley Donnelly, 30, appeared before Carlisle Crown Court yesterday for sentencing after he breached a restraining order preventing him from contacting his partner Storme Abrahams.

Judge Nicholas Barker deferred sentencing for the breach, until November 13, at which point the sentence will be reviewed.

“The deferral is essentially to allow Dean Donnelly to demonstrate he is capable of abiding with post sentence supervision.”

Judge Barker said it was up to Donnelly to prove that he was “capable of living a crime free life; something Storme (Abrahams) thinks with her support he is.”

Donnelly was sentenced in April for slapping Miss Abrahams at The Cumberland Hotel in Workington, leaving her bruised.

He was also jailed last July for kicking and punching a different woman on a Carlisle street during a row.

“This isn’t a decision I have made lightly,” Judge Barker told Donnelly.

“It isn’t about putting trust on you, what this is to provide you with a chance to give a demonstration, to show whether you can behave, or I will lock you up.

“If you are violent towards Storme, I will reinstate the order, whether she wants it or not. This is your opportunity. If you carry on abusing alcohol and drugs you are heading in one direction.

"Speak and use this support offered to you by the probation service. You should get abstinence from grief for the death of your mother.

“You should be more open and prepared to discuss. These are all good things, take them up and you may find your life becomes easier, but it is entirely down to you.”

“Love you,” Miss Abrahams told her partner, to which Donnelly replied the same two words as he appeared via video link from Durham prison.