A jealous bully threatened to throw bleach over his girlfriend's head and "trapped" her in his home after rifling through her messages.

Wesley Morris held a pillow over his victim's head and punched her after thrashing her with the back of his hand 20 times at his home in Dover.

The 24-year-old then held a knife to her, pricking her skin, screaming he was going to stab her if she didn't admit to sleeping with other men.

The pair had been together for just six weeks when Morris seized her tablet and became enraged at messages on there from men - before the couple had met.

"During the afternoon he began looking through her iPad and saw messages," said prosecutor Daniel Stevenson.

"He sent them messages back accusing them of meeting her behind his back. The defendant became angry.

"He shouted at her to tell the truth, he wouldn't listen to her, then began slapping her with the back of his hand about 20 times."

The court heard Morris held a pillow over her face and began punching before pushing a blade against her skin threatening to cut her as she backed into the wall.

He then opened a bottle of bleach and threatened to pour it over her head.

Frenzied, the thug accidentally sent a threatening message to the victim's mum.

The court heard when the woman's family and police arrived she could be seen crying.

Meanwhile, Morris tried persuading her into silence and then fled, smashing an asbestos shed roof costing at least £5,000 to repair.

Morris, who has 13 convictions for 23 offences - most recently affray, two counts of causing Actual Bodily Harm and five offences of battery - was arrested on September 30.

But he denied the attack telling officers the victim's bruises were from having sex with other men.

Mr Stevenson added she was "petrified and worried something much worse could have happened."

"Even though she knows he is in prison she feels anxious going out," the barrister said.

Phil Rowley, mitigating, said his client suffers with ADHD and difficulty processing emotions.

Since being in prison he has gained an education and been given enhanced prisoner status, he added.

"He accepts this relationship has concluded," he told Judge Catherine Brown.

Morris, dressed in a green sweater, could be seen shaking his head as the facts were read.

Judge Brown branded Morris' criminal past "appalling".

She added: "Your victim was effectively trapped in your flat, she was weaker than you - you intended to cause more harm than what occurred.

"The whole experience must have been absolutely terrifying as described in her victim impact statement."

Morris was jailed for two years and three months at Canterbury Crown Court for the sustained attack at his council flat in Victoria Park Road on September 28.

He had plead guilty to actual bodily harm and criminal damage at an earlier hearing.

He was also handed a five-year restraining order - making it a criminal offence for Morris to enter Beaufoy Road in Dover, contact his victim, or post anything about her on social media.

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