A drug user has denied attacking his on-off girlfriend and said she was beaten up by heroin buyers when a deal went wrong.
Jason Davenport said alleged victim Jolene Bruce had blamed him for her injuries because she hoped to jump the council housing queue as a victim of domestic abuse.
He said she had lied to her doctor about how she suffered a cracked tooth and injured mouth because she hoped she would gain more points and improve her chances of getting her own council house.
Davenport denied being an abusive boyfriend and said Jolene had told other lies in her attempts to get re-housed.
The prosecution allege he hurled her into an empty bath tub and hit her in the face during a violent argument at his mother's home in Exeter where they were both living in Exeter last year.
Davenport, aged 22, of Wykes Road, Exeter, denies causing actual bodily harm.
He said the incident happened after Miss Bruce moved back into his mother's house after moving out to bed and breakfast accommodation and then becoming homeless.
He said they were both using heroin at the time and were dealing in a small way to finance their habits and she had been attacked after going out to sell drugs near his home.
He said she had nine bags of heroin worth £90 stolen, leaving them with a debt to their own suppliers for the missing heroin.
He denied hitting her at any time during their five year relationship and said:"We had verbal arguments in the past but the only time it got physical it was on her side. She has thrown an ash tray and more at me.
"She is a compulsive liar. She lies about where she goes. She always lies about everything. She said she was going to tell the doctor I attacked her because she wanted to get priority for housing."
