A man who headbutted a former partner after she told him their son wasn't his has been sent to prison.
Stephen James Fox, who appeared at Belfast Crown Court with 117 previous convictions, was handed a 12-month jail sentence by Judge David McFarland.
The victim had been granted a non-molestation order against 41-year old Fox, from Henderson Avenue in north Belfast, which he breached.
The assault took place in October 2016, when police received a 999 call from a child saying "Mummy and Daddy are fighting".
The child was not there when officers arrived but they found a woman who was visibly upset. She was taken to Antrim Area Hospital.
Crown prosecutor Peter Magill said after the woman made a remark about their two-and-a-half-year-old son's paternity, Fox "lost his temper" and attacked her.
He grabbed her by the throat and then followed her into another room where he headbutted her, causing soft tissue injuries.
The prosecutor said a DNA test later confirmed Fox was indeed the father, but he had been in a similar situation in a previous relationship when he was told a child was his, when in fact it wasn't.
The court heard Fox had a "long-standing" addiction to drink and drugs and underlying mental health issues which had included admission to a psychiatric unit.
