A 23-year-old South Cerney man has been jailed for a year for drunkenly assaulting his former partner, giving her two black eyes and covering her body in bruises.

At Gloucester Crown Court yesterday (March 3) prosecutor Neil Treharne said Myles Cox, of Broadway Lane, saw his ex-partner at the village’s Old George Inn on December 3 last year while she was on a night out.

At that time he was subject to police bail conditions preventing him from seeing her as a result of a previous incident between them.

"Later, when she was walking home alone along an unlit alleyway, she became aware that Cox was following her," Mr Treharne said. He shouted at her ‘Am I coming back to yours?’ to which she replied, ‘No chance’.

“At that point Cox became violent and hit the women in the face. He continued to repeatedly punch her in the head.

“She ended up on the floor and he began kicking her all over her body. At one point after he had kicked her in her back and winded her she shouted out that Cox was going to kill her.

“Cox’s defiant response was ‘good’. But somehow the woman managed to make her escape."

In a victim statement the woman said "He left me with two black eyes and I had to explain to others why I had received them. The whole situation made me feel very embarrassed.

“I am still suffering from a number of injuries to my back, which makes it difficult to sleep.”

Steven Young, defending, told the court that Cox had shown 'significant remorse'.

“Cox has no memory of the assault as he was intoxicated at the time,” Mr Young said.

“He doesn’t recall what prompted the initial argument and when he saw the pictures of her injuries he couldn’t believe he was responsible."

Cox pleaded guilty to assaulting the woman on December 3, causing her actual bodily harm.

The judge, Recorder Robin Sellers told Cox: “Only an immediate custodial sentence can be justified and it cannot be suspended as you have shown you don’t adhere to court or police bail conditions.”

The judge jailed Cox for 12 months and ordered him to pay a victim surcharge of £156.

He also imposed a five-year restraining order.