Former Sky man escapes jail

A former TV news presenter escaped a jail sentence today after being convicted of hitting his partner.

Frank Partridge, 50, threw water in Pamela Downs's face and struck her over her left eye during a row. High Wycombe magistrates gave him 180 hours community service and told him to pay £175 to his victim plus £500 court costs.

Former Sky News presenter Partridge looked calm as the order was handed down. At a trial last month, Ms Downs, 49, said the couple rowed on 7 July at their home in Denham Green, Buckinghamshire.

After she ripped up a photograph of him he threw the water, then chased her into the garden, where he hit her, the court heard. She said she fell and hurt her back. Partridge, who was working at LBC radio at the time, denied a charge of assault, claiming he tried to calm the situation and struck her with the back of his hand after she threw hot tea at him.

In court Ms Downs had alleged that during the 17-month relationship: "He blacked my eyes, cut my face and suffocated me with a pillow. This was a fist too far."

Partridge was sacked from Sky News in 2001 after a bust-up with presenter Kay Burley.