The Northern Irish boxer, who reached the podium at Glasgow 2014 and Gold Coast 2018, was due to contest charges of causing actual bodily harm and common assault.

However, he pleaded guilty to two counts of common assault at Ballymena Magistrates Court after the attacks were caught on closed circuit television.

Donnelly committed the offence in October last year which the prosecution had described as a "sectarian, drunken assault".

Following the confession of the Rio 2016 Olympian, District Judge Nigel Broderick delayed the sentencing until July 4 by which time the Probation Board will have compiled a pre-sentence report.

On the same day, Donnelly will also face sentencing for two counts of breaching a restraining order by harassing his former partner.

The two-year restraining order expires this October and as a result an 18-month extension is being sought out. 

Last December, Donnelly was also sentenced to 100 hours of community service after admitting to sexually assaulting a woman in a pub in Ballymena.

He was ordered to complete an 18-month probation period and the community service and sign the sex offenders register for five years.

A defence lawyer said Donnelly had "enormous regret" and had "substance misuse problems, particularly with alcohol".