A MAN charged with punching his girlfriend walked free from court — after a witness pal claimed he was so engrossed watching an edition of the Jeremy Kyle show that he couldn’t remember the incident.

William Paul, 46, was said to have struck the woman after flying into a drunken rage over an alleged affair he claimed she was having.

Greenock Sheriff Court heard that he lashed out while watching an edition of the Jeremy Kyle Show — which frequently features relationship cheats.

But a friend Mr Paul had been drinking with told the court that the day was ‘a complete blur’ to him.

The witness added: “I was drinking cider and a quarter bottle of whisky.” Mr Paul’s alleged victim earlier testified: “He shouted verbal abuse at me. He thought I was having an affair with another man, who was present in the house at the time.

“I ended up slapping him once on the face and he punched me on the right cheek.

“He was intoxicated.

“I just walked out because I was so distressed at what had happened.

“He called me a prostitute as well.” Procurator fiscal depute Hugh Brady put it to the accused’s drinking partner that he could remember who was where and what was on the TV but nothing of the actual incident.

The 52-year-old witness had told the court: “The telly was on, we were watching Jeremy Kyle.

“I’ve got a lot of channels and you can catch up on TV in the afternoon.” But the witness insisted that he had no recollection of the alleged assault.

Fiscal depute Mr Brady decided not to pursue the case any further due to the lack of corroboration of the woman’s account.

Mr Paul, of Drumfrochar Road, Greenock, had been charged with assaulting the woman at a flat in the town’s Nile Street on 28 April by repeatedly punching her on the head and body.

Sheriff Rajni Swanney confirmed that a ‘not guilty’ verdict would be recorded and told him: “You are free to go.”