AN estranged boyfriend has been jailed for attacking his ex-partner and breaking her ankle because she refused to make him a cup of coffee.

Andrew Rimington grabbed the terrified victim by the neck and hurled her to the ground with such force that her ankle was dislocated and broken.

He then tried to re-set it himself as she lay in agony on the floor of the kitchen of her home in Lapford, near Crediton, and three children who were staying at the house watched on in tears.

Rimington went on to assault one of the children by shouting at her and then throwing her onto the floor, an act which a judge at Exeter Crown Court described as “unforgivable”.

The victim ended her relationship with Rimington because of his violence and drug use but allowed him to stay the night on her sofa after he had been babysitting.

He attacked her in the kitchen the next morning because she made herself a cup of coffee without making one for him as well.

Rimington, aged 40, now of Lower Moor, Barnstaple, admitted causing grievous bodily harm to his ex-partner and common assault on the 10-year-old girl and was jailed for a total of a year and 10 months by Judge Robert Linford.

He told him: “There was an argument over nothing more serious than a cup of coffee. You were so aggravated that you reacted violently and manhandled her. You grabbed her, scratching her face in the process, then threw her to the floor.

“You did what you could to hide what you had done but the police were called and you could be heard on the phone shouting and swearing. Unforgivably, you then threw around a 10-year-old girl.”

The judge imposed a three-year restraining order banning any contact with the victim.

Mr Lee Bremridge, prosecuting, said Rimington had been in a long-term relationship with the woman but they had split up 18 months before the attack, which happened in September after he had stayed the night at her home.

He carried out the attack the next morning as a result of her not making him a cup of coffee and left her with an ankle injury which required an operation to fix it with plates and screws.

Mr Chris Cuddihee, defending, said Rimington is remorseful and had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity. He had already sought help for his drug use before this incident and is getting clean in prison.