A MAN who bit a woman's face during a date after chatting with her on Facebook has a history of domestic abuse offences.

Stewart Baxter assaulted the woman in a Greenock flat amid a marathon boozing session which spanned two days.

But the 48-year-old insisted at a sentencing hearing that he believed that his victim and another man were planning to steal from him.

The Telegraph told earlier this year how Baxter lunged at the woman during an argument, seized her and bit her to the left eyebrow.

He claims that he fell asleep and woke to find himself being assaulted by the man and then lost his t-shirt in an ensuing scuffle.

His lawyer said that Baxter says he had a holdall with him containing a laptop computer and other items.

The solicitor told Greenock Sheriff Court: "Mr Baxter accepts that in the scuffle he lunged at the woman.

"He left and wandered the streets until the following morning and got a bus home.

"I am advised that he was never able to recover his holdall with items."

There was no mention of the laptop in information relayed to the court by the Crown when Baxter pleaded guilty to the assault.

Baxter had also been charged with grabbing a phone and trying to damage it in a bid to prevent police being called, and with stealing a jacket, but his not guilty pleas to these allegations were accepted.

He committed the assault within a flat at Broomhill Court on August 12 last year.

Sheriff Andrew McIntyre noted that Baxter, whose address was not given in court, has previous convictions for domestic abuse but none for violence.

He ordered him to complete 150 hours of unpaid work within 12 months.