A WEST Cumbrian woman suffered appalling injuries as her partner subjected her to an hour-long attack which included kicking, slapping, dragging and hitting her with a hammer.

A judge heard how victim Laura Mackereth now suffers panic attacks following the unprovoked late-night assault at the Melbreak Avenue home in Cleator Moor where she lived with Jordan Mattinson, her partner for the previous 16 years.

The attack ended shortly after Mattinson grabbed a meat cleaver and used it to cut his own face. The 36-year-old defendant admitted causing Miss Mackereth grievous bodily harm.

Jailing Mattinson for two years and two months, Recorder Lawrence McDonald spelled out the aftermath of his violence, telling the defendant: “You launched on her a sustained a attack.

“She suffered bruising to her eyes, her jaw, her neck, arm, wrist, both knees, her shoulder and her back and abdomen... you used a hammer and later took up a knife. That knife did not form part of your assault on Miss Mackereth.

“You used the knife on yourself. But we can only imagine the fear she must have felt, having been beaten over the course of approximately an hour by you.”

The judge also alluded to internal injuries suffered by the victim.

Mattinson turned violent shortly after returning home at 11.30pm on August 7, Carlisle Crown Court heard. The couple were not getting on, and, finding his partner in a bedroom where she was trying to sleep, he quickly “kicked off”.

He pushed her on to a bed, squeezed her mouth and face and pulled her hair as she pleaded with him to stop. Pulling her to a second bedroom, he continued the attack, kicking her in the back, causing “horrible pain”.

The assault continued for an hour, with Mattinson hitting her “numerous times” as she tried to protect herself. Her ordeal ended as her stepfather arrived. At the house, police found the blue-handled hammer he had used on her.

In a statement, Miss Mackereth, who repeatedly told Mattinson he needed help during the attack, said she was broken-hearted. “I feel empty and devastated,” she said, outlining how she struggled to come to terms with what happened, needed anti-anxiety medication, and suffered panic attacks.

Kim Whittlestone, for Mattinson, said he battled with mental health problems and was diagnosed with an autistic spectrum disorder. Though he had previous convictions for violence, this was Mattinson’s first domestic violence offence, she said. The barrister added: “He’s extremely remorseful.”

Recorder McDonald noted a probation report which said Mattinson posed a “high risk of harm” to his victim and future partners. “She was in her own home, entitled to feel safe,” said the judge, adding that jail was the appropriate punishment. He also imposed an indefinite restraining order.