A man who beat his girlfriend in a jealous rage has been jailed.

Maxwell Smith, 42, from Southampton, appeared at Supreme Court yesterday.

He pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm and threatening Debra Araujo on November 22 of last year.

The court heard Smith attacked Ms Araujo after an argument about her whereabouts the previous evening.

He told her: “I’m going to kill you. I’m going to kill you and your children.”

Ms Araujo suffered multiple bruises and tenderness to her face, a mildly displaced fracture of her ninth left rib, and a probable fracture of her eighth left rib.

Smith had originally been charged with causing grievous bodily harm.

This was amended by Crown prosecutor Takiyah Burgess to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, following a recommendation by Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves.

Mr Greaves said the severity of Ms Araujo’s injuries did not necessarily meet the definition of grievous bodily harm.

“The injuries and fractures are so mild the doctor couldn’t confirm the second one,” he said. “The definition of grievous bodily harm is serious interference with health and comfort. This seems better placed in the realm of ABH.”

Mr Greaves sentenced Smith to 18 months in prison for assault and four months for threatening Ms Araujo, to run concurrently. He accepted Smith’s guilty plea and took into account that he had three previous convictions for similar offences dating back to 2006. He also recommended that Smith attend anger management classes.

Mr Greaves expressed the court’s disgust at the actions of the defendant.

“Beating a woman is foolishness,” he said. “You come back here for that again, you will get some serious punishment.”

Smith was arrested last December and has been in custody since June. This will count as time served of his sentence.

• Editor’s note: It is The Royal Gazette’s policy not to allow comments on stories regarding on-going court cases. This is to prevent any statements being published that may jeopardise the outcome of that case.