A jealous thug sliced a man's face open with a Stanley knife after finding him asleep on the sofa next to his ex-girlfriend.

Stephen Parfitt also attacked Ben Stafford with a hammer after bursting into his former partner's home in Ramsgate in the middle of the night.

Mr Stafford said it felt like his "face was on fire" after the frenzied assault, which has left him with an eight-inch scar that has changed his appearance forever.

Parfitt, 45, who was high on drugs at the time of the violence, has now been jailed for seven years.

Prosecutor Kieran Brand told Canterbury Crown Court how Mr Stafford had been asleep on the sofa with Tammy Smith when he was woken by Parfitt attacking him.

“He was struck on the head with what is believed to be a hammer, then sliced on the face with a Stanley knife," he explained.

Parfitt, known locally as ‘Wurzal’, dropped the blade and fled the property following the “gratuitous” violence.

Meanwhile, Miss Smith rushed Mr Stafford to the QEQM hospital, where the eight-inch wound was closed with 13 stitches.

He and Miss Smith had fallen asleep on the sofa following a day renovating her property, shortly before Parfitt loomed over them, the court heard.

The attack has left Mr Stafford wrought with anxiety and scarred for life.

“When this first happened I was really in shock - this shock lasted a good while," he told the court.

“The attack happened in my sleep, and every time I went to sleep I feared I would be attacked again.

“I’m always anxious with people looking at me because of the scar on my face.”

Mr Stafford told of his struggles finding work, saying he fears future employers will judge him over his appearance.

Parfitt - who has 54 offences for 24 convictions including robbery - became enraged following the breakdown of his relationship with Miss Smith.

"When this first happened I was really in shock - this shock lasted a good while..."

Following his arrest the day after the attack, Parfitt would give conflicting accounts to officers, telling one “it weren't me I weren’t there”, and another the assault was “borne out of jealousy”.

Supported by friends and family in the public gallery, Parfitt could be sitting with his palms and fingertips pressed together as Judge Mark Weekes delivered his sentence.

Also handing down a 15-year restraining order, he branded Parfitt’s actions “shocking and wholly gratuitous”.

“You entered in the middle of the night the home of your former partner and viciously attacked Ben Stafford,” he added.

“For the rest of his life he will be reminded of the events of that night.”

Parfitt, of Wherry Road in Westwood, Margate, pleaded guilty to wounding with intent on the day of his trial following a Goodyear indication.

It is where a judge gives a defendant an idea of what their sentence will be if they plead guilty.

Phil Rowley, mitigating, argued Parfitt had not been convicted of a violent offence since 1998, adding his recent violence came under “challenging and stressful circumstances following the breakdown of a relationship".

He added Parfitt had been engaging in a number of vocational courses while being held on remand and developed “insight and remorse”.

After sentencing, investigating officer Detective Constable Paul Rigden said: "Parfitt attacked his victim as he lay asleep on a couch, completely unable to defend himself.

"The injuries he inflicted will stay with the victim the rest of life. I hope the sentence handed down by the court gives the victim a sense of closure and allow him to try and move on from this horrific attack."