Stephen Carter admitted assaulting his estranged wife Amanda

by Paul Hooper

A seven-year-old boy wrote a heartrending letter to his brutal dad – after watching a savage attack on his terrified mum.

Stephen Carter broke his estranged wife's arm after kicking her as many as 20 times in the violent assault, leaving her describing the pain as "worse than childbirth".

After the "barbaric" beating, little Oliver Carter wrote: "Daddy, please don’t ever do this to mummy again."

Carter, 36, of Queens Road, Whitstable, later admitted the letter had made him cry.

He admitted assaulting Amanda Carter and escaped an immediate jail sentence after a judge heard the couple were hoping for a reconciliation.

Judge Simon James told him: "This was a cowardly and sustained attack on the mother of your children, perpetrated on her in her own home – part of which was witnessed by your seven-year-old son.

"you will have to live with the shame of what you did for the rest of your life..." – judge simon james

"He was so concerned he felt compelled to write you a note pleading with you never to do anything like that again to his mummy. You will have to live with the shame of what you did for the rest of your life."

James Bilsland, prosecuting, said the couple’s marriage fell apart amid allegations of drinking and cheating, but the two shared custody of Oliver and his three-year-old sister.

The couple married in 2004, but separated in August 2011 when Carter moved out to live with his mother.

In October, Carter had returned to the house to babysit while his wife went to work as a manager at a local Tesco store.

At 4am, as he slept on the sofa after downing 10 pints of beer, Mrs Carter went through his text messages and realised he was also in a new relationship.

Mr Bilsland said: "She said she was annoyed and felt that she had been lied to."

In a temper, Mrs Carter threw the phone at her estranged husband, hitting him on the nose and slapping him in the face.

As she apologised, Carter then launched a ferocious attack, kicking her – and as she fell to the ground she pleaded: "Stephen, please stop. That’s enough, stop it."

Mr Bilsland said: "But he carried on kicking her. She remembers counting eight kicks and then realised that he was not going to stop."

She later said the pain she experienced was even worse than the pain of childbirth.

Mrs Carter said: "I remember then thinking I was paralysed. I lost count of the total number of times I was kicked, but it was between 15 and 20."

The court heard Carter then swore at his battered wife before storming upstairs, where Oliver had woken and was crying.

As Mrs Carter got up she realised her arm was badly injured, but attempted to get dressed to go to work. Then her husband renewed his attack.

Mr Bilsland said: "At this point she felt she was only semi-conscious. She crawled into a ball. She then heard Oliver crying, sat next to him and said: 'Don’t worry, there will be no more fights now'."

After arriving at work in severe pain, Mrs Carter was sent to the William Harvey Hospital, Ashford, where doctors diagnosed a fractured arm.

She later told police she was unable to hug her children because of her injuries.

Claire Cooper, for Carter, said he hung his head in shame in court.

"He behaved in a barbaric manner but it was totally, completely and utterly out of character during a period of emotional turmoil."

Carter was given a nine-month jail sentence - suspended for two years - and ordered to do 260 hours of unpaid work.

Judge James told him: "You should be under no illusions just how close you came to going straight to prison."