A KENT man who subjected his ex-girlfriend to a brutal attack, slashing her face with a knife, was jailed for three years.

Jeffrey West was convinced his girlfriend was having a relationship with her boss when he lashed out at her in a hotel room in Milton Keynes.

She was on a training course with her employer in October, 2001. West, 37, of Brooklands Road, Larkfield, near Maidstone, arranged for flowers to be delivered to her room before turning up unexpectedly.

At first, Maidstone Crown Court heard, West was "all sweetness and light", inviting the woman and her boss for dinner. But he became violent when the trio returned to the hotel and insisted on going to her room.

Andrew Forsyth, prosecuting, told the court: "He launched an unprovoked attack, punching her in the face with such ferocity she was knocked to the ground.

"The defendant then dragged her by her hair to a mirror and while holding her face against it said 'Look at your face, look at the state of it.' He then threw her onto the bed, pinning her down."

At this point the woman realised she was bleeding from a large gash to her cheek. West began panicking and she saw him holding a small knife."

West then drove her to hospital where she received seven stitches. She was also treated for a black eye.

The court heard the couple met in May 2000 and their relationship was often violent. After West appeared in court for a preliminary hearing he was released on bail with conditions of not contacting the woman nor going within one mile of her.

However, in May last year he telephoned her seven times over a five-hour period, leaving messages on her answerphone.

West pleaded guilty to putting a person in fear of violence by harassment, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and witness intimidation.

Tony Wyatt, defending, said the violence occurred at a time when West was depressed. He had no previous history for violence and it was related entirely to his relationship with the victim.

At a hearing on September 24 Judge Michael Neligan sentenced West to three years' imprisonment for wounding with intent, and 18 months' concurrent for harassment and intimidation.

He also made West subject to an indefinite restraining order banning him from going within a mile of the woman's home in Bexley and a mile of Bexley village. He also must not contact her.