A JEALOUS man high on a mix of steroids and other drugs put his partner through 14-hours of mental and physical torture at Christmas.

Accusing her of having an affair, David Bolton kept her captive in their Murton home, subjecting her to sustained violence and threats.

Durham Crown Court heard that the former cage fighter punched and slapped her, banged her head off the wall, painfully pulled her arms back, stabbed her in the face with the jagged edges of a split cider can and pulled out clumps of her hair,.

Anne Richardson, prosecuting, said the woman feared for her life during the ordeal, which only ended at mid-day on Boxing Day, when he fell asleep and she clambered out of the window, bare-footed, wearing only pyjamas.

Miss Richardson said the 45-year-old woman spent the next three days in hospital, suffering black eyes, widespread cuts and bruising, a suspected broken jaw, a swollen neck, and will have a permanent bald patch on the back of her head.

Bolton, 38, of Neville Close, Spennymoor, admitted false imprisonment, wounding with intent and making threats to kill.

Jonathan Walker, mitigating, said the remorseful defendant has written apologetic letters to both the victim and to the court.

He said despite his, “narcotic-fuelled haze of jealous rage”, Bolton could have inflicted even worse injuries.

Jailing him for eight years, with extended three-year licence period, Judge Deborah Sherwin said she considers Bolton poses a threat of serious harm to other women.

She made him subject of a restraining order preventing him from contacting or approaching the woman, other than by writing, “until further order”.