A DRUG addict has been jailed after assaulting a woman while she was holding a 15-month-old baby, a court heard.

During the attack Joshua Lewis Crichton, aged 26, of no fixed abode, pushed and slapped the victim and dragged her by the hair.

The incident was also witnessed by her two young children - aged six and nine.

Poole Magistrates' Court heard that the nine-year-old squirted her Fruit Shoot drink at Crichton in an attempt to stop him from "hurting mum".

The incident happened at an address in Poole on Friday, January 27.

At court on Tuesday, January 31, Jason Spellman, prosecuting, said: "The defendant dragged her by the hair and threw her on the bed. He then slapped her in the face several times in the presence of the children.

"During part of the assault she was still holding the baby."

A police statement from the nine-year-old witness read out in court said: "Mum's nose was bleeding. I squirted my Fruit Shoot drink at him to stop him from hurting her."

Following the assault Crichton left the address taking a Samsung tablet, mobile phone and the victim's bank car with him. None of the items were recovered.

Crichton pleaded guilty to the offences but denied the victim was holding the baby during the assault. He also said he was not violent towards the children, although acknowledged they may have seen it and were scared.

The court heard that both the victim and defendant had been drinking and that Crichton hit her because "she was laughing at him."

However a report from the probation service said he was "genuinely remorseful for what he had done and that addiction to drugs had been a major factor".

Crichton did not request bail but said he recognised he had a drug problem and that custody would be the best place to "get himself straight".

The court heard that he used £60 to £80 of heroin daily as well as methadone - a heroine substitute.

Crichton was handed a 14-week prison sentence for the assault and theft and a four-week concurrent prison sentence for breaching a restraining order.

The court also heard that he was in breach of a conditional discharge which had been handed to him in October last year.