Gray Allan Ormandy admitted assault over a row about Grand Theft Auto V [CASCADE]

Gray Allan Ormandy, 23, had been out to buy the latest version of the smash-hit game at its special midnight launch on September 17.

Rachel Lawson - the mother of his three kids - complained when he returned home and began playing the game with his two pals, a magistrates' court was told.

Having been woken by the trio, Miss Lawson asked Ormandy's two friends to leave. He then slept on the sofa.

Lisa Hine, prosecuting, described how the next morning Miss Lawson asked Ormandy to help with their children.

Ormandy refused and, as the row escalated in their bedroom, he grabbed her round the neck and squeezed until she couldn't breathe.

Mrs Hine said the three children - all aged under five - saw what happened and one said: "Stop it."

Miss Lawson took the children downstairs and called the police at 8.30am.

“The children were present and would've been petrified by what they saw.”

District Judge Gerald Chalk

Following his arrest, Ormandy told officers "she hates me having a computer" and said she "smashed the last one".

He said he came back with some mates and Miss Lawson was "stressing" and made his mates "uncomfortable".

Mrs Hine said Miss Lawson wanted to make up and did not wish to pursue a restraining order.

Ormandy, who was bailed, admitted assault at Furness Magistrates' Court, Cumbria on the basis he held her jaw line but argued it was not in front of the children.

He will be sentenced at a later date.

Mr Trystan Roberts, defending, said: "He is bitterly sorry he is now away from them. He is, by all accounts, an extremely good father.

"Unfortunately, things have been very stressful recently and his younger brother, for whom he has cared for much of his life, has become homeless and his mum is on a third drugs conviction and is in prison at the moment."

District Judge Gerald Chalk said: "You assaulted the mother of your children in the home, where she should feel safe.

"The children were present and would've been petrified by what they saw."
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