A man who assaulted his girlfriend at a £320-a-night hotel in London when she refused to have sex with him on Valentine's Day has narrowly avoided jail.

Rhys Weatherburn, of Sheephurst Lane, Marden booked a room at the Ritz Hotel in Mayfair as a romantic treat for Shannon Fidge, from Paddock Wood.

But Weatherburn, 20, flew off the handle when Miss Fidge refused him sex after rowing over dinner.

The couple, who both attended Mascalls School in Paddock Wood, were getting ready for bed when Weatherburn told his girlfriend: "We are in a hotel, we are going to have sex".

He shook her arms aggressively and pushed her onto the bed, but her screams alerted fellow guests who called security.

They then escorted Weatherburn out of the exclusive Mayfair hotel where rooms cost from £320 a night. As he left he lashed out and damaged a window.

Weatherburn, who pleaded guilty to assault and criminal damage at an earlier hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court, was ordered to pay Ms Fidge £100 in compensation.

Imposing a further fine of £200, magistrate Spiros Elia said: "We have taken into account what you have said, your early guilty plea and the fact that you have absolutely no previous record at all.

"You are a person of good character and we have consulted our guidelines.

"But this was a very, very serious offence and a custodial sentence would have very much been a possibility.

"We are going to give you a community order with a 40-day rehabilitation requirement for your alcohol misuse - as this is where your problems seem to stem from.

"You have no god-given right to sex when you want it.

"We wish you all the best with your alcohol problems - that seems to be the root of many of your problems."

Weatherburn was ordered to pay a total of £145 costs.

The court heard that the Ritz hotel had been previously compensated.