A drunk Suffolk man who hit his partner over the head with a weightlifting bar and dragged her by the hair through broken glass after accusing her of having an affair has been jailed for 54 months.

Sentencing Jt Jackson, Judge Rupert Overbury described the attack on Lisa Scoles as “horrific” and said he had completely overreacted because he thought she was interested in someone else.

Judge Overbury accepted the attack was completely out of character but said the offence was aggravated by the fact that a child was present during the violence.

He said Jackson had been in debt and people who knew him had noticed he’d lost weight and a change in his mood in the period leading up to the attack.

Jackson, 42, of Barr Drive, Lakenheath, admitted wounding Miss Scoles with intent to cause her grievous bodily harm and production of cannabis.

In addition to being jailed, Jackson was banned from contacting Miss Scoles indefinitely.

Lynne Shirley, prosecuting, said Jackson and Miss Scoles had been in a relationship for 10 months and in August she had gone to stay with him for a few days.

On August 22 he had become aggressive after drinking alcohol and accused her of having an affair.

He had punched her and when she ran away he had punched or kicked her to the ground and had had dragged her by the hair through smashed glass on the floor causing cuts to her body.

He had then “whacked” her with a weightlifting bar causing her to lose consciousness for a short time and injuring her hand.

Miss Scoles tried to call 999 but Jackson had thrown the phone on the floor and had then struck her with the metal bar again.

“There was blood everywhere and she was slipping in and out of consciousness,” said Miss Shirley.

As a result of the attack Miss Scoles suffered cuts to the top and back of her head, a swollen hand and cuts and bruises.

Miss Shirley said when police went to the house they found 52g of cannabis buds in a pod the size of a wardrobe.

Steven Dyble, for Jackson, described the attack as disgraceful and said his client felt genuine remorse.

He said what happened was out of character and people who had written references found it hard to reconcile the violence he inflicted on Miss Scoles with the man they knew.

He said Jackson, who worked at RAF Mildenhall, had no relevant previous convictions.