A WOMAN was left fearing for her life after her former partner bit, punched and kicked her in the face.

Carl Pearson, from Spennymoor, in County Durham, was jailed for the attack, which left his victim with permanent injuries.

The 21-year-old pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm but only admitted to punching the woman once in the face.

But after hearing evidence from the woman, Judge Christopher Prince said it was “incredible” that her injuries could be caused by a single punch.

The woman told Durham Crown Court that the couple had been sitting on the sofa in their home when Pearson grabbed her face and bit her on the nose.

After returning from the toilet, he started punching her and then kicked her in the face when she tried to crawl away from him, she said.

She was left with a fractured eye socket, broken nose and cheek bone and bite marks around her nose.

She said: “I thought he was going to kill me. I didn’t know what to do.”

A statement from the woman, which was read in court, said: “I’m devastated that I’m left with permanent injuries and will have to live with double vision.

“I’m not scared of anyone but I’m terrified of Carl Pearson and what he will do to me.”

John Turner, mitigating, said: "He is not used to being locked up and has found the whole experience traumatic.”

Pearson, of Whitworth Terrace, was sentenced to 27 months in prison.