admitted hitting his wife -- saying she needed the time to decide how to sentence him.

The Wor. Charles-Etta Simmons told Ricardo Dowling on Monday the attack had been "nasty'' and she felt he needed "a short sharp shock''.

"You can't go around striking people, particularly where women are concerned.

If (your girlfriend) would like, she can come to court at that date (in two weeks) to say why you ought not be imprisoned.'' Dowling had admitted that on February 26 he punched his live-in girlfriend and mother of his children in the mouth, causing a gash requiring 10 stitches to close.

Prosecutor Sgt. Rex Osborne said a fight had erupted after Dowling's girlfriend had arrived home later than expected.

Sgt. Osborne said Dowling had been convicted of assaulting her once before.

And he had been sent to prison for 14 days for assaulting a second woman, whom he had not been going out with.

Duty counsel Mr. Nicholas Dill said the couple had been living together for six years, but Dowling had moved out after the incident and they were now speaking.