A THUG punched his ex-girlfriend, dragged her by the hair and threatened to burn her house down when she ended their relationship.

Joseph Durling, 35, from Caerphilly smashed a door at her home with a baseball bat causing shattered glass to cut the woman's face.

The defendant has a history of domestic violence and this latest attack took place on March 11, Cardiff Crown Court was told.

The judge, Recorder Bruce Gardiner, told Durling: “The rear door was smashed with a baseball bat and her face was cut as the glass was broken.

“She repeatedly asked you to leave but you refused to do so.

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“You threatened her by saying that if she didn't continue your relationship you would burn the house down.

“She interpreted that as a threat to kill her.

“As she walked up to the top of the stairs, you punched her hard to the head causing a lump to the back of her head.”

Recorder Gardiner added: “She describes how the injuries to her face and arms caused her to be embarrassed and how her employers had to send her home from work so it didn't frighten those she was working with.

“She lost money because she was not permitted to work some shifts.”

Durling had “drank copious amounts of alcohol and done a couple of lines of cocaine” at the time of attack.

The judge said to him: “You have previously been convicted of assaulting two other intimate partners and you have a further conviction for making a threat to kill your sister.

“There's a clear pattern in your offending history of violence towards women.”

Durling, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, criminal damage and the theft of the woman’s purse and keys which were both recovered.

He also admitted trespassing on the railway after walking on train tracks in Caerphilly following the attack.

Kevin Seal, mitigating, said his client was “remorseful” for his actions.

Durling was jailed for 18 months and was made the subject of a restraining order not to contact the victim until further notice.