A BAD-TEMPERED bully who fractured his girlfriend's shoulder when he pushed her to the ground in a row over a windscreen wiper has been spared an immediate jail sentence.

Edward Thornton, 59, shoved petite Natalie Johnson over on the car park at Halfords in Valley Road, Bradford, and then calmly carried on fitting a new wiper blade to her car while she lay on the floor in severe pain.

Thornton, who was in a seven month relationship with Miss Johnson, was described by her as "controlling and abusive," prosecutor Jeremy Barton told Bradford Crown Court yesterday.

He pleaded guilty to causing her grievous bodily harm on Saturday, April 11.

Mr Barton said that Thornton, who wore a pink shirt and green bow tie for the sentencing hearing, got annoyed with Miss Johnson inside Halfords as they looked through a pamphlet for the right wiper blades.

"He said 'I can't see for your finger' and there was a slight disagreement," Mr Barton said.

Once outside the shop, Miss Johnson asked Thornton to fit the new blade to her car.

"She is 4ft 10in tall and he is 6ft 2in and she couldn't reach to put the wiper blades on herself," Mr Barton said.

Thornton grabbed the blades from her and pushed her on to the car park. She struck her head and sustained a three-point fracture to her shoulder. She also had a nasty bruise on her hip.

Her orthopaedic surgeon reported that she may never recover full mobility.

Miss Johnson told the police Thornton had paid her only £30 to help with the household bills during their relationship and he always decided what they watched on television.

Thornton, of Mill Street, Dolgellau, North Wales, had a conviction for battery last year on an unrelated matter.

His barrister, Stephen Uttley, said: "Temper has got the better of Mr Thornton, both on this occasion and last year at a tenants' meeting when he opened a door and hit a person in the back with it."

Thornton was a very intelligent man of limited means.

He sat on a bench outside the court all the previous night after arriving in Bradford at 10pm, on three trains and a bus, to be on time for his case.

Judge Peter Benson told Thornton: "This was a nasty bullying action on your part that had very serious consequences and caused very great harm."

He sentenced him to 14 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, with a 12 month community order that included a Building Better Relationships course with the probation service.