A little boy who witnessed his pregnant mum being beaten by her ex-boyfriend acted out the attack on himself days later at nursery school.

Canterbury Crown Court heard the youngster was seen by a teacher putting his hands around his own neck - copying just one of the many horrifying acts of abuse carried out in the terrified boy's home by Daniel Harvey on October 10, 2021.

The 38-year-old had erupted in rage after wrongly accusing his ex-partner of taking his car key.

Ignoring the fact she was carrying his unborn child, the construction firm boss repeatedly dragged her around by her hair, stuck his fingers in her mouth, and grabbed her around the neck and throat.

In one moment of particularly gratuitous violence, Harvey even bit her eye, the court was told.

The woman was also forced to ring her mother to prove she was epileptic and at risk of having a fit after Harvey had branded her a liar and demanded to see her medical notes

The dad-of-three not only later denied the attack but tried to blame his former partner, claiming she had hit him with a frying pan when in fact he had cut himself by headbutting a kitchen cupboard during his violent outburst.

He also lied to police about her red and swollen eye, saying it had been caused when "her face collided" with his teeth, and added that his fingers had "slipped" into her mouth.

He put two fingers in her mouth and dragged her by her mouth across the kitchen...

But despite his "disgusting loss of control" and the impact it had had on the mum and her young family, a judge decided not to put the bully behind bars.

Prosecutor Amy Nicholson told the hearing that the defendant and the woman had been in a relationship for about 10 months but it deteriorated due to his drinking and cocaine use.

They broke up but at the time of the assault were said to be on friendly terms and she had invited Harvey, who was sofa-surfing, to stay at her Ramsgate home.

However, his temper flared when, having accused her of "ruining his life", he lashed out when he could not find his car key.

The court heard he initially injured himself with the headbutt before pushing her and putting his arm around the back of her neck and forcing her head back aggressively, while still shouting for his key.

Through her tears, the woman tried to fend Harvey off and asked him to leave but was subjected to further violence.

He also took her phone and told her: "I'm not going to let you f*** me over again.”

Each time she made a run for the door, he grabbed her back, either by her hair or around her neck. At one point she was fighting for breath and ended up vomiting, said Ms Nicholson.

Describing the moment the bully bit the victim's eye, the prosecutor added: "He put two fingers in her mouth and dragged her by her mouth across the kitchen.

"Instinctively, she bit him. But he retaliated by biting her in the right eye. She fell to the floor where he dragged her by her hair but she wriggled away."

It was at that point that she spotted her son standing in the kitchen doorway and told Harvey to stop before managing to grab the youngster and take him safely upstairs.

With the violence against her continuing on her return, she was eventually saved by the police arriving.

"She was in a state of distress and finding it difficult to speak because she was crying so much," said Ms Nicholson. "Her right eye was red, swollen and sore. She was having trouble opening it."

Her son was later seen at nursery "re-enacting the assault against his own mother by placing his hands around his neck", added the prosecutor.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, the woman said Harvey's attack on her while pregnant was "proof he did not spare a thought" for her safety or that of their then unborn child.

"I feel angry and upset he has done this to me while my children were upstairs and my son witnessed him dragging me across the floor," she added.

"We are victims, I'm a victim. Daniel has made me out to be the violent, aggressive ex which I am not. He has made me feel scared in my own home.

"Everything Daniel has done has made me doubt everything and everyone. What I have been through has been soul-destroying."

Harvey, of Dargate Road, Yorkletts, near Whitstable, later denied assault causing actual bodily harm but was found guilty following a magistrates' court trial last year.

Maintaining his innocence, he appealed that conviction, with his hearing listed at the crown court on March 4.

We are victims, I'm a victim. Daniel has made me out to be the violent, aggressive ex which I am not. He has made me feel scared in my own home...

However, on that day he accepted his guilt and the matter proceeded to sentence.

But having heard of Harvey's efforts to address his alcoholism and drug habits, his work prospects, lack of previous convictions for domestic violence and also his acceptance that the relationship was over, the judge imposed an 18-month prison sentence suspended for the same period.

Ordering Harvey to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work, 30 rehabilitation activity sessions with an alcohol treatment requirement, Recorder John Bate-Williams highlighted the vulnerable victim's "graphic" ordeal.

"You clearly lost control of your temper,” he told him.

“You assaulted her in a disgusting way. You bit her back - a disgusting thing to do to anyone, let alone someone you had been in a close relationship with for several months.

"It was made much more serious by the presence of her young son who witnessed some of the events, and at his nursery a day or so later he was seen echoing, by the placing of his hands around his neck, what he had seen."

But the judge said he was able to spare Harvey immediate custody "by a fine margin" as there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.

An indefinite restraining order banning any contact with his victim was also made.