A thug who claimed to have violently punched his girlfriend up to 40 times in the face 'to teach her a lesson' has been jailed for a year.

Tommy Arnold also bluntly admitted that he preferred not to use weapons and was going to beat Adrienne Morris to death.

But the 40-year-old claimed he brutally attacked Miss Morris only because she tried to stab him, causing him to suffer slash wounds to his hands.

When he pleaded guilty on Friday at Maidstone Crown Court to making threats to kill his partner he told the judge he acted in self-defence.

Arnold, of The Glebe, Bidborough near Tunbridge Wells, also admitted assault causing actual bodily harm and criminal damage in relation to the same violent row on July 15.

The court heard he was originally charged with attempted murder.

Prosecutor Daniel Stevenson said Arnold was drunk when he lost his temper with Miss Morris during an argument at her home in Milton Gardens, Tonbridge.

She managed to flee into her bathroom and then to a neighbour's to call police. Her injuries included bruising and swelling to her face and a cut to an eyebrow.

"The defendant later admitted beating her up in a determined manner," said Mr Stevenson.

"When interviewed he said: 'I just beat her. I punched her 30 to 40 times. I was angry. I was teaching her not to do it again. I was going to beat her to death. I'm not a weapons person.

"'If she died I was going to call police. I wouldn't have just left her there'."

The court heard police had been involved in previous incidents between the couple and Arnold was subject at the time to a suspended prison sentence for assaulting an officer.

John Fitzgerald, defending, said Arnold had been 'candid in the extreme' after his arrest, and maintained Miss Morris had tried to stab him.

He said officers also saw the knife wounds to his hands.

"I just beat her. I punched her 30 to 40 times. I was angry. I was teaching her not to do it again..." - defendant Tommy Arnold

The court was told the couple had been in a 'happy' relationship for about three to four years until, it was alleged, Miss Morris developed a drug habit.

"The defendant maintains she became extremely difficult to live with," said Mr Fitzgerald. "All the money they shared between them, she spent on that (drugs) rather than their lives together.

"Basics such as food and the like weren't purchased and home life became horrendous.

"It is not an excuse but he accepts things came to a head, he completely lost his control and he is sorry for the way he behaved."

The court heard Arnold, who has eight previous convictions for 13 offences, cannot read or write and has alcohol problems.

Mr Fitzgerald continued: "In his interview he was very candid, candid in the extreme, as to what had taken place.

"He made admissions to a very unpleasant assault but he explained he had come in from shopping and she came at him with a knife, slashing him on his fingers.

"He showed police the cuts to his hands. He stands by it and it's supported by evidence. There were also markings on the doorframe where she came at him with the knife but missed.

"But what he should have done was to phone the police or walk away, anything other than turning to violence."

The court heard that despite his criminal record, he only had a caution for violence. The assault on police related to him refusing to let an officer take a blood sample.

Jailing Arnold for a total of 12 months, Judge Adele Williams said he had caused 'unpleasant but happily not serious' injuries to Miss Morris.

But she added: "Whatever had been the argument between you and her, this was unpleasant violence to a woman."

Arnold was also made subject to a five-year restraining order banning him from any contact with Miss Morris.