A MAN tried to gouge his girlfriend’s eyes during a “horrible” drink and drug-fuelled attack.

Johnathan Davies, 38, from Blackwood was jailed after a jury found him guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm following a trial.

The judge, Recorder David Elias, told the defendant: “You were in a tumultuous relationship with your victim and there had been suggestions of violence within that relationship prior to this assault.

“You spent the weekend together in your house and no doubt you had been drinking and there is evidence that you had also been taking drugs.

“You had a plastic torch which you threw at her and it hit her to the leg, causing it to bleed.”

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He added: “You then punched her to the face several times.

“You pushed her across the bed and you were clawing or poking at her eyes and were trying to put your thumbs in her eyes.

“You also put your hands on her throat and into her mouth.

“When she fell to the floor off the bed, you kicked her when she was on the floor.

“Those were quite forceful kicks and the kicking went on for some time.”

Recorder Elias described it as “a sustained and horrible assault”.

The victim was in her pyjamas and slippers when she escaped from Davies and ran to a neighbour for help.

The judge added: “You have previous convictions that demonstrate a clear pattern of domestic violence against partners.

“You also have previous convictions that show that you have in the past breached orders of the court, including restraining orders.”

Kevin Seal representing Davies said the defendant had endured a difficult childhood and had spent his life in and out of prison after being brought up in the care system.

The defendant, of Croeso Square, was jailed for two years and six months and made the subject of an indefinite restraining order not to contact his victim.

He was cleared of false imprisonment by the jury and admitted possession of amphetamine.

The offences were committed on May 1, Cardiff Crown Court was told.

Davies will have to pay a £228 surcharge following his release from custody.