A YOUNG man kicked and repeatedly punched his young pregnant girlfriend minutes after she left the maternity ward.

The shocking assault took place just outside Poole Maternity Hospital when Robert Moorman grabbed his girlfriend by her shoulders and threw her to the pavement in an alleyway next to St Mary’s Road.

He was seen holding her down and hitting her up to six times in the face and upper torso, magistrates at Bournemouth Magistrates Court were told.

The 21-year-old, from Bournemouth Road in Poole, denied assaulting his partner on October 17 last year but was found guilty after a two-day trial.

The victim was undergoing a routine medical appointment at the hospital during the 17th week of her pregnancy, during which she seemed anxious, and her phone was continually ringing.

Prosecutor Timothy O’Sullivan said she had even temporarily removed the battery from the phone to silence it.

He said three members of hospital staff saw her meet Moorman in the hospital reception after the meeting, and the pair left together.

The court heard evidence from community maternity support worker Emma Galman who was one of the trio.

She said the pair initially separated at the alleyway on the opposite side of the road, but then walked back towards each other, and angry words could be vaguely heard.

She said Moorman then grabbed his girlfriend’s medical notes and she resisted, after which he grabbed her shoulders and threw her to the ground.

Under cross-examination, she said Moorman was stood with his back to her, but said she could see he was holding her down and punching her “between four to six times” around her face and neck.

She said she had been worried for the victim during the meeting as she seemed afraid of a ‘Rob’, who kept calling her.

Giving evidence, the victim denied that her boyfriend had attacked her and kept saying that it ‘was her fault’ because she lost balance.

She said she had initially offered her notes to Moorman, then tried to pull them back when he took hold of them.

She told magistrates she then slipped to the floor, and the defendant went to help her up.

The sentencing of Moorman will take place on March 18 at Bournemouth Magistrates Court.