A man who is accused of assaulting his ex-girlfriend on New Year's Eve was fined $20,000, or six months in prison, when he appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court recently.

Pleading guilty to the charge of assault occasioning bodily harm is Christopher Simmons of a Kingston address.

It is alleged that on December 30, Simmons punched the complainant in the face in Half-Way Tree, St Andrew, after she refused to speak to him.

Simmons, who denied punching the complainant, told the court, "Is ignorancy. Me neva mean fi lick har. A one lick me lick har!"

He was reprimanded by RM Pusey and fined.