A MAN who knocked out his girlfriend in a "jealous rage" after discovering messages from a previous relationship on her Facebook account has been jailed.

Ryan Laws, 28, knocked Janine Morgan off her feet and onto the floor of her kitchen after a drink-fuelled row, a court heard.

The force of the blow was so strong that she blacked out, Cardiff Crown Court heard.

When she came round, she knocked on the door of a neighbour asking for help "covered in blood", prosecutor Bryon Broadstock told the court.

She was treated in hospital for a 2cm cut on her forehead and suffered from post traumatic amnesia as a result of the attack, the court was told.

The assault took place at her home in Tone Close, Newport, on the evening of March 20 last year.

Laws said "What have I done?", "What have I done? following the assault but later denied attacking her, the court heard.

Laws, of Pilton Vale, Newport, initially pleaded not guilty to one count assault occasioning actual bodily harm but changed his plea to guilty three days before a trial was due to begin.

Judge Stephen Hopkins jailed him for nine months today [April 7].

He told him: "There is no excuse to hit a woman."

Court records showed he had 15 offences recorded against him including one for violence.

Defence barrister David Webster told the court his client had found Facebook messages from a previous relationship after putting her sim card into his phone.

Ms Morgan said the messages pre dated their 14-month relationship but he accused her of cheating on him, the court heard.

Mr Webster told the court the correspondence had "sparked a jealous rage" on his part, which had led to the assault.

In mitigation, Mr Webster said his client had been hard working and had given financial support to Ms Morgan and her son.

He added that he had been affected by alcohol abuse. Laws will have to serve half his sentence in custody before he is released.