A man who attacked his former partner as she was driving has been ordered to stay away from her.

Paul Baldwin, from Deal, will also have to complete unpaid work after assaulting the woman in a car in Sandwich in August last year.

He appeared at Margate Magistrates' Court on March 21 to be sentenced, after admitting a charge of assault by beating at an earlier hearing in January.

The court heard the incident was unprovoked while the woman had been driving.

Magistrates decided to jail Baldwin for four months but suspended the term for 18 months.

The 47-year-old, of Diana Gardens, in Deal was also ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and attend 25 rehabilitation sessions with probation, including completing a building better relationships programme.

He was also ordered to pay £85 court costs and was issued with a restraining order, not to go near the woman or her address for 18 months.

It's not the first time Baldwin has appeared before magistrates.

In January this year he admitted drink-driving at Folkestone Magistrates' Court.

At the time, the court heard the construction landscaper was spotted driving by police during the early hours in December last year, with frosted-up windows.

When he was pulled over in his VW Polo in St Patricks Road, Deal, he was found to be over the legal drink-drive limit.

Judge Justin Barron decided to ban Baldwin from the road for 18 months for the offence.