A MARYPORT man has gone on trial accused of threatening his partner with a knife and breaking her arm.

Adam Bromley, 43, denies an allegation of threatening the woman with a kitchen knife in the woman’s home; and causing her grievous bodily harm with intent to do so.

Opening the case before a jury at Carlisle Crown Court, barrister Beth Pilling gave a summary of the prosecution case.

She said that at the time of the two alleged offences on July 1, Bromley and the woman who was involved had been in a relationship for a number of years. Late on the evening of June 30, the two had started to argue.

“[The woman] had discovered that she had no money in her account,” said Miss Pilling. “She believed that the defendant had spent her money and in the early hours of July 1 the argument became physical.

“The crown’s case is that [the woman] made a call to her auntie and during that phone call the defendant became abusive while [she] was on the phone to her auntie.

"The defendant went to the kitchen and grabbed a kitchen knife and began threatening [her] with that knife.”

Miss Pilling said that the defendant and the woman then became involved in a scuffle, during which she was “pushed to the floor.”

It was at this point, said the barrister, that Bromley stamped on the woman's arms and hands, causing injuries.

The woman’s left arm was broken, and her right hand sustained a fracture. The woman’s auntie overheard the commotion and called the police. They arrived to find the woman injured but Bromley had left.

But he then returned to the house and was arrested.

Miss Pilling then told the jury the nature of Bromley’s defence: he denied threatening the woman with a knife and says she was angry following an argument with one of her relatives.

Bromley, of St George’s Place, Maryport, claims that the woman injured her hand when she “punched” the kitchen door. She also tried to punch him, he said, and as he defended himself that they “tumbled” to the floor.

She was injured when he landed on top of her, he claims. “You will have to decide who is telling the truth,” Miss Pilling told jurors.

The trial is expected to last for two or three days.