A furious mum pinned her boyfriend to a bed and bit him on the cheek and arm in a frenzied attack after hearing he had allegedly slept with her best friend.

While drunk, Nicole Lawrence, of Cavell Square, Deal, also struck her partner with shards of a broken mirror, leaving him with “horrific” injuries which have caused permanent scarring.

A judge at Canterbury Crown Court warned the 28-year-old to “think yourself lucky” as she avoided jail and was handed a suspended sentence, having pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm.

The court heard the trained beauty therapist’s attack on the victim - who is the father of her one-year-old child - was sparked when a friend told her he had been unfaithful.

Prosecutor Siobhan Malloy said he had been homeless at the time and was staying with Lawrence’s mother, who had some friends over on the evening of September 17.

“At 10pm she told him Ms Lawrence was going to her friend’s then she would be back. Later she said Ms Lawrence was now on her way back, she was angry and going to attack him”, Ms Malloy said.

The victim locked his door and fell asleep, but was later woken up by his “highly emotional” girlfriend coming into the room.

The prosecutor said: “She attacked him, biting his right cheek, pinning him on the bed then biting his left arm, scratching him on the back.”

In what was described as a “prolonged and persistent attack”, she broke a mirror and then used the smashed pieces to strike him in the back of the head. She also caused a 5cm deep laceration to his neck, which needed hospital treatment and left a scar.

Lawrence also left her boyfriend with cuts to the left side of his face and scratches.

The victim managed to escape the bedroom and then the house - but was not allowed to get back in to fetch his belongings.

Ring doorbell footage shows him saying in the aftermath: “I can’t believe you bit me, I’m calling the police.”

The whole incident has affected his mental health...

He then went to a friend’s home where an ambulance was called, and Ms Lawrence was later arrested.

Summing up the events at a sentencing hearing on Friday, Ms Malloy added: “As much as she says she’s sorry, there’s very little evidence of remorse that the probation report can see.”

However, Dr Andreas O’Shea, defending, said Lawrence does feel bad for her ex-partner, and “she’s determined never to be violent again”.

The lawyer said: “On the night in question she was particularly upset because earlier that day she had gone to the pub with with the mother of a friend.

“The mother told her - apparently she wanted to get it off her chest - [Lawrence’s] partner had slept with her friend, who she says is her best friend, and they had been seeing each other behind Ms Lawrence’s back.

“She was in a highly emotional state because of this news. No one excuses her conduct or the drinking or the violence, but this explains how this was all triggered in her mind.”

Dr O’Shea said: “She says during the relationship there was paranoia, insecurity and a lack of trust between the both of them. Now this relationship is over it’s easier for her to be clear-headed.”

He said that Lawrence is unemployed but looking for work.

Dr O’Shea added: “She’s effectively someone who has not been in this situation before.”

However, Judge Edmund Fowler pointed out Lawrence has two previous cautions for violent matters.

Sentencing Lawrence, the judge said the attack had left the victim fearful when he goes out and the “whole incident has affected his mental health”.

However, he added that she had shown some understanding that her behaviour was “unacceptable”, and she had stayed out of trouble since the attack.

The judge handed Lawrence a 15-month suspended sentence for two years, and ordered her to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work, 30 days of rehabilitation activity and an alcohol abstinence requirement for three months.