A Tunisian man who twice assaulted his wife was warned by Skipton magistrates such behaviour was unacceptable.

Bilel Ayari, 24, married his wife, Sally, a teacher, in August, 2012, just five months after meeting her while she was on holiday in Tunisia.

Within days of the couple marrying in Tunisia, Ayari had assaulted his wife and the assaults continued after he moved to live with her in Settle, the court heard on Friday.

Ayari, who, it was claimed, usually assaulted his wife after drinking and because he felt ashamed at not being able to find work, was handed a 12-month community order with supervision and 150 hours unpaid work.

On October 25, the couple had both been drinking and Ayari had slapped his wife after an argument at a relative’s house in Harrogate. He admitted to a further assault on November 26 at their home in Kings Mill Lane when she was left with a black eye and bruised cheek.

In mitigation, Ayari said he had been upset following the death of his father and because he had struggled to find work.

Magistrates told him he needed to understand that domestic violence was not taken lightly.

He was also ordered to pay costs of £85 and a victims surcharge of £60.