A FALMOUTH man who assaulted a woman has been fined by a court in Cornwall.

Alexander Kayode Abiola, 20, of Trevithick Road in Falmouth appeared in front of magistrates at Truro Magistrates' Court on Friday, June 10 on one count of assault by beating.

The offence happened on Tuesday, September 20 at Pool, near Redruth where Abiola assaulted a female victim.

Initially, Abiola pleaded not guilty to the offence, but was later found guilty after a trial.

During his sentencing, he was fined £180 as well as made to pay compensation of £100 and pay a surcharge to fund victim services of £34.

Abiola was also made to pay costs of £200 to the Crown Prosecution Service.

According to the Sentencing Council, sentences handed down for these types of offences vary depending on a number of factors such as whether the offence committed was common assault, actual bodily harm, or grievous bodily harm or wounding.

Sentences are also worked out by assessing harm and culpability, that is, whether the attack was sustained or repeated and how responsible the offender was for the assault.

The maximum sentence for a common assault that isn't against an emergency worker or racially or religiously aggravated is six months custody.

This raises to one year's custody if the assault is against an emergency worker and two years custody if the assault is religiously or racially motivated.