A man with an “appalling record” tried to get his girlfriend to take the blame for an attack on a girl A-level student.

Aaron Rainieri, 27, beat up the 18-year-old student after he had a row with her. He then persuaded girlfriend Toni Miller, 19, to take the blame.

But they were found out and both jailed at Canterbury Crown Court.

Judge Adele Williams told Rainieri, who she said had an “appalling record”, it was a nasty assault in which the victim was repeatedly punched and left with not only black eyes and grazes, but a deep cut to her forearm.

She said people who sought to pervert the course of justice, could expect immediate custody.

Rainieri, of The Hoystings Close, Canterbury, was jailed for two years having admitted assault causing actual bodily harm and perverting the course of justice.

Miller of Palmer House, Station Road East, Canterbury was jailed for four months after admitting perverting the course of justice.

Donna East, prosecuting, said Rainieri and Miller had gone to a flat over Superdrug in Canterbury following an earlier incident in which Miller had been assaulted.

Rainieri wanted to look for whoever was responsible and became aggressive. The victim was at the flat having been with friends earlier and when she asked Rainieri to keep the noise down, he threw her into a pile of cardboard boxes.

He then grabbed hold of her hair and punched her in the face. At one point she fell down the stairs and blacked out. When she got up she was punched again. She was later taken to hospital for treatment.

When arrested and interviewed, Rainieri denied the assault and claimed Miller had attacked her and Miller backed up the account.

Nicholas Jones, for Rainieri, said he accepted it was a serious matter and that he had a poor record. He had been expelled after serving over five years in the Army because of an alcohol problem and when his adoptive mother died, he began drinking to excess.

It wasn’t a premeditated assault but in the flat there was a heated argument with two other males and when the student got involved with regard to his behaviour, he assaulted her.

Philip Rowley, for Miller, said at the time she was living alone and emotionally vulnerable. She fell into a relationship with an older man and there was an imbalance of power between the two of them and she was to some extent in fear of him.