A MAN carried out a drunken attack on his pregnant partner who he was forbidden from contacting following a previous assault, days earlier.

Lee Anthony English was jailed for 16 months for the early hours’ violence meted out on his vulnerable partner, who was alone in the kitchen of her home in Sacriston, County Durham, on their return after drinking at a friend’s home.

Durham Crown Court heard that police were called to the property by neighbours reporting a domestic incident, at 2.20am on October 3.

Shaun Dryden, prosecuting, said English was on bail at the time, following an alleged assault on the same woman, on September 29, for which he was subsequently jailed for 20 weeks.

His bail conditions forbade him from contacting her and from entering Sacriston.

But when police entered the house, in Fern Road, in response to the call, no-one was present, but knives were found on the floor and blood was spattered round the property.

English was discovered hiding in a wheelie-bin in nearby Plawsworth Road, and his hysterical partner was found in a house in the vicinity.

She was bruised, with scratches to her neck and face, while she was bleeding heavily from a deep cut to a finger.

Mr Dryden said she initially refused to assist police, claiming she caused the injuries herself.

English was arrested and told police he had been drinking strong lager, having also taken £300 worth of cocaine, but claimed he had been fighting with a man in the village.

The injured woman was treated at hospital and later gave a statement saying English was responsible the attack, on their return from drinking at a friend’s house.

She said English grabbed her throat, and, when she tried to push him away, he punched her several times and banged her head against a cupboard, causing a cut to the back of her head.

The victim stated she cut her finger desperately trying to reach for a knife from a drawer to successfully ward off her enraged partner.

English, 29, now of Sunderland Road, Gateshead, admitted assault causing actual bodily harm.

The court heard it was his fifth offence of violence since December 2010, and the fourth of a domestic nature, some involving a previous partner.

Jailing English, Judge Christopher Prince said it “stretched credulity” that a man could attack a partner in such a way at a time she was 22 weeks pregnant with his child.