A drunk abuser stabbed his girlfriend in the back with a hunting knife during a sustained "punishment" beating.

The woman was discovered with serious injuries after managing to flee Kristian Moore’s savage assault at their Whitstable home.

The 24-year-old was jailed at Canterbury Crown Court on Friday, where his victim was forced to relive the traumatic events.

Moore, then 22, dragged his girlfriend by the hair, smashed her head into the floor, and punched, slapped and bit her, before plunging a hunting knife between her shoulder blades in October 2021.

Handing down a prison sentence of four years and two months, Recorder Bernard Richmond KC told Moore he was lucky to avoid a murder charge.

“You, during an argument with your then-girlfriend, lost your temper and behaved in an extremely violent way, causing you to drag her by her hair, pulling her across the ground causing her painful injuries, then at some point grabbed a knife, a terrifying knife, and stabbed her in the back," he told Moore.

"You grabbed a knife, a terrifying knife, and stabbed her in the back..."

“It is fortunate the injury was limited."

The court heard Moore, who was supported by friends and family in court, unleashed the beating following an evening drinking and taking drugs in the early hours.

A stranger, Alex Hillman, discovered his victim distressed and covered in bruises and blood in the street after 1am, prosecutor Josephine Teale said.

He and another member of the public took the young woman to a nearby address, where the extent of her injuries were revealed.

She suffered a “puncture wound” to her back, which fortunately missed a lung, alongside numerous cuts, bruises, grazes and a bite mark.

The court heard she subsequently told officers Moore had previously attacked and traumatised her, but he was only charged for one count of wounding with intent.

Mitigating, Stacey Lee-Holland said Moore, of Middle Wall, suffered learning difficulties and “impeded emotional and social development.”

She said he launched the attack in a “heat of the moment outburst” culminating from their “toxic relationship”.

Ms Lee-Holland said Moore’s actions were out of character, while he “doesn’t understand how he ever got here” apart from embarking on a “spiral of drug and drink addiction”.

Having already spent more than a year on remand, Moore, who pleaded guilty to GBH with intent on the day of the trial, will have the time deducted from his overall sentence.

He was also handed an eight-year restraining order.