A MAN sent his partner a 'sorry' text after throttling and punching her — then told a court he couldn't remember the message.

Graham Dempsey insisted he had no recollection of the apology despite mobile phone evidence, and agreeing he'd sent a number of earlier texts.

The 53-year-old left a house party early and returned to the woman's flat and then attacked her when she arrived home hours later.

His victim told Greenock Sheriff Court: "He grabbed me by my throat and pushed me against a wall, and then onto the bed and he punched me to the right side of my head."

Asked by procurator fiscal depute Frankie Morgan how she felt, the woman replied: "Scared."

A friend of the woman — who received a phone call from her — said: "She was very upset and crying and told me Graham tried to strangle her and there was a severe punch to her head."

A police witness said he arrived to find the woman 'extremely upset' with a red mark on her neck.

The court heard that Dempsey left her Regent Street flat at 3.30am on May 18 and sent the one-word 'sorry' text at 5.05am.

Prosecutor Mr Morgan asked him: "What were you sorry for at 5.05am?"

Dempsey replied: "For splitting up."

Mr Morgan said: "So you lied when you said you had no recollection of sending it."

Sheriff Thomas Ward found Dempsey guilty of assaulting the woman to injury.

The sheriff told him: "This was quite a bad assault on a defenceless woman.

"It's clear to me that you assaulted her, left the mark and sent the text to apologise for the assault."

Sentence on Dempsey, whose address was not given in court, has been deferred until December 16 for a background report and consideration of a non-harassment order.