A MAN who punched his ex-girlfriend because she refused to make him a cup of tea walked free from court yesterday.

Jobless Martin Farrell, 23, admitted assaulting Marie Cult, 32, because she got "in his face" and turned down his demand for a brew.

Bristol Magistrates Court heard how Farrell let himself into Marie's home in Hartcliffe, Bristol, during the night of April 20 this year.

She woke at 6.30am the next day to find him asleep on her living room sofa. She asked him to leave.

Farrell demanded she make him a cup of tea and punched her in the face when she refused.

Robert Allen, prosecuting, said: "She told him to get out of the property and he called her a 'fat bitch'.

''He then went to the kitchen and told her to make him a cup of tea.

"When she refused, he said 'you bitch' and raised his right hand and hit her in the face.

"She called the police, who found Mr Farrell walking away from the property. He accepted he assaulted her in the way she described."

The court heard how Farrell, of no fixed address, has a previous conviction for assaulting Ms Cult and a caution for threatening her with a hammer.

He pleaded guilty to assault by beating.

Sentencing, Chairman of the Bench Neville Gibson said: ''This was a serious offence."

Farrell, who has a daughter with Ms Cult, was handed a 14-week jail sentence suspended for one year.

He was also ordered to undertake 80 hours of unpaid work.