A boxer "literally" smashed his girlfriend’s face in during a heated argument, leaving her in need of reconstructive surgery, a court heard.

Burly Derek Wild unleashed a single punch which shattered Lauren Fitzdouglas’ cheekbone.

He later admitted it was probably his boxing ability that he caused so much damage.

A judge said only the skill of a distinguished surgeon was able to repair some of the damage the 26-year-old father caused.

“He had to do it because you had, to put it bluntly, smashed her face in - literally,” he said.

“You hit her so hard her orbital cheekbone was shattered.”

Maidstone Crown Court heard the couple, who were in a relationship for about six years and had a child together, had been out in Rochester before the attack in the early hours of December 11 last year.

They were at a bar with friends when Miss Fitzdouglas went to the toilets with a group of women and stayed there for about 20 minutes.

Prosecutor Ruth Broadbent said when Miss Fitzdouglas eventually emerged Wild walked straight past swearing that he was going.

"She felt pain in her eye as if her eyeball had popped... she fell to the floor" - prosecutor Ruth Broadbent

She followed him into the smoking area. They argued and Wild, of Shamrock Road, Gravesend, became aggressive.

“He said he was worried about her and asked who she had been sleeping with,” said Miss Broadbent.

“She explained they had just been talking.”

They went to a pub but doormen asked him to leave. She left about 10 minutes later. They continued to argue in the High Street.

She went to a friend’s house and then took a taxi home to Gravesend in the early hours. She realised Wild must have returned also.

Miss Fitzdouglas went to bed and was next aware of Wild kicking the bedroom door about 10 times, leaving it hanging off.

He swore at her, called her names and threatened to knock her out, raising his fists to her.

She tried to push him out of the bedroom but he went towards her.

“She felt pain in her eye as if her eyeball had popped,” said Miss Broadbent.

“She fell to the floor. There was a punch to the face.

“As she fell, he began to apologise saying he didn’t mean to do it.”

Miss Fitzdouglas was taken to a hospital A&E department and then transferred to Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead for specialist surgery.

A permanent mesh was inserted to support the fractured facial bone.

She had nerve damage with numbness to her lip. The surgeon commented the result was “remarkably good”.

Wild admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm and criminal damage to the door and was jailed for two years and nine months.

A further month was added for breach of a 42-day suspended sentence for common assault.

Judge Jeremy Carey described Wild’s statement to a probation officer that he was “a good looking man and girls are going to be interested in me” as “pretty obnoxious”.

He told Wild: “The circumstances of this serious offending are depressingly familiar to those who sit in these courts.

“I reject any suggestion that Lauren Fitzdouglas did anything to you which merited any kind of physical assault by you.

“It is a feature of domestic violence that there is frequently on the part of the perpetrator attempts to justify repugnant, obnoxious behaviour.

“You yourself say this incident should never have occurred.

“What you did, to use your words, was disgusting and you had no right to do it.

“I accept you do feel ashamed of your actions. You must understand the victim must hate you for what you have done.”

The judge said the victim was bound to feel self-conscious about her injuries and sensitive about how she looked.

“You have to live with that,” he continued.

“If you have a conscience, it is something you should take a long time to get over.

“It happened in her home, where she was entitled to feel safe. Whatever you say, she was vulnerable and you were far stronger than her.

“I accept this was a single blow, although there has been a period when you were working yourself up to a loss of control and the devastating consequences.”

Elizabeth Cobb, defending, said Wild regretted the punch immediately and called an ambulance.

“He understands it is a very serious offence and he is glad to be punished,” she said.

“He didn’t expect to cause the harm he did. This is where his boxing comes in.

“It was a reaction in the moment. He believes it is because of his boxing background that he caused the damage he did.”