A JEALOUS Worcester man flung his "pregnant" girlfriend into the bath after she chatted to a man undergoing a sex change.

Andrew Jones called Samantha Norris "a big fat slut" as they fought in her Arboretum home.

But the dispute took a twist yesterday when magistrates heard that Miss Norris' baby had not been born more than a month after the attack when she was allegedly nine months pregnant.

Simon Rippon, prosecuting, said the couple were drinking in the Washington pub in the Arboretum between 4.30 and 5.30pm on Saturday, July 29.

Miss Norris left abruptly when a drunken man began talking to her, saying "What have you been doing? Opening your legs?"

Jones followed her back to her Lowell Street house and sat on the toilet before Miss Norris came in and the row began.

"He said 'what did you talk to him for?' I think he saw me talking to a man who has had a sex change and he did not like it," said Miss Norris in a statement read out by Mr Rippon.

"He grabbed me under the armpit. I lost my balance and he threw me into the bath. I landed in the bath and cracked my head."

Jones slapped her across the face several times before threatening to drag her out of the bath.

Miss Norris fled to a neighbour before a police officer arrived to arrest Jones, who pleaded guilty to assault.

"I am upset that he would attack me when I am so pregnant," Miss Norris added in her statement.

Joe Kieran, defending, said her claim of pregnancy was "completely bogus."

"She was a week overdue four weeks ago. She is now allegedly five weeks overdue and this pregnancy might confound the medical profession, he said.

Mr Kieran added that Miss Norris had constantly called Jones on his mobile phone while he was on bail, despite the fact that his bail conditions forbade him to contact her.

She had also contacted Mr Kieran before yesterday's sentencing hearing, asking him for advice on how to withdraw the charge.

Mr Kieran said Jones, of Lansdowne Rise, deeply regretted the episode and there had never been violence between them before.

"He did not take advantage of his dominance and desisted of any more violence," he added.

Jones was put on probation for two years and ordered to pay £100 compensation with £55 costs.