A Penryn man has been made the subject of a community order and a restraining order by magistrates after he admitted assaulting a teenage woman at his home.

Josh John Byrd, aged 20, of Higher Market Street, had been described as having a “Jekyll and Hyde” character by the victim who he had punched and pushed on June 20.

In a victim statement put before magistrates at Truro, the girl said she did not visit shops or the beach now because of fear of what he might do if she bumped into him. She cried all the time, found it hard to sleep and had lost her appetite.

Dieter Kehler, representing Byrd, said his client denied he was a Jekyll and Hyde character and submitted that references he produced to the magistrates showed him as a responsible, calm person.

Byrd, who is employed as a home shopper at Asda, was given a community order with a 16 week curfew between 7pm and 2am on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturday. He was also told to pay £145 costs and surcharge, £100 to his victim and made the subject of a restraining order and banned from contacting the victim or going to her home or her place of work.