A 21-year-old man who broke his girlfriend’s jaw while on bail for doing the same to a man in the street has been jailed for 12 months.

Anthony Ross struck Stacey Wheeler, 20, in the face after she swung a punch at him, Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday.

He was committed to the court for sentence after he was convicted of causing her grievous bodily harm at the city magistrates’ court.

Ross, of Woodroyd Road, West Bowling, Bradford, and Miss Wheeler had a three-year-old daughter together, the court heard.

On June 22, he punched her in the face after an argument the previous day.

She suffered a fractured jaw that had to be mended with screws and a metal plate.

In January this year, Ross broke a man’s jaw when he attacked him in the street. He was sentenced to a suspended prison sentence for that offence in September.

Ross’s solicitor, Simon Hustler, said his client was full of remorse by what he had done to Miss Wheeler. She swung a blow at him and he retaliated, not intending to cause serious injury.

Recorder Richard Mansell QC said the police had been called to the couple’s home 24 times because of problems between them. It was a stormy relationship, with both causing arguments.

In 2006, Ross was convicted of battery against Miss Wheeler.

“This is a very worrying pattern of violence,” Recorder Mansell said.