A DANGEROUS thug who left his partner ‘barely recognisable’ after a vicious assault before attacking another man leaving him drifting in and out of consciousness has been jailed for 15 years.

Connor Watkinson told police he was going to prison for a double murder when they arrested him at the scene of the second attack in February.

Preston Crown Court heard Watkinson, of Cardigan Avenue, Burnley, became violent when he learned his benefits had not been paid and started ranting and raving at his partner.

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He punched her and dragged her up the stairs at her home where she blacked out.

Th court heard when she woke she found she had been bound with electrical tape and beaten so badly she could not open her eyes. Her hair had also been cut.

She managed to free herself but Watkinson threatened her with a knife in a bid to stop her calling the police or her parents for help.

He recorded himself on a mobile phone, saying: “I’m proud of this. Say goodbye to that hair, love. Doesn’t matter anyway, cos you’ll be dead soon.”

He then left the house and met a man and woman who were going back to the woman’s house for drinks.

He told them he was homeless and had nowhere to go, so they allowed him to return to the house with them, the court heard.

When the man fell asleep in the chair, Watkinson became enraged at him turning in his sleep and punched him.

The woman tried to pull him off but Watkinson bit her arm and pushed her to the floor.

She ran to a nearby taxi rank to get help but Watkinson continued to attack the man.

He followed him into the kitchen, hit him with a pan, which was bent out of shape, pushed him through the oven door, which smashed, and attacked him with bottles and a broken plate.

When the police arrived, Watkinson was ‘enraged’ with bulging eyes and was ranting and raving, the .

His victim was barely conscious in pools of blood on the kitchen floor, the prosecution said.

Watkinson pleaded guilty to two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and a count of actual bodily harm.

His partner suffered multiple fractures to her head and face and a large cut to her leg.

In a victim personal statement, she said: “This has changed my life forever.”

She has lost her job and feels like a prisoner in the home in which she was attacked as she is too anxious to go out.

The man suffered multiple injuries, including a cut to his neck, and has long term trouble with his speech due to injuries to his tongue.

Judge Robert Altham, sentencing, said: “Watkinson is an extremely dangerous man.

“This was bestial violence inflicted for no apparent reason. He caused serious, life changing harm, to the people he assaulted.

“He has done so in a matter of days.

“He appears to have no reason to became gratuitously violent and when he becomes violent he becomes uncontrollably violent.

“Though he doesn’t need a weapon to cause serious harm, he will use a weapon.”

The judge took into account his guilty plea and that he is a young man, when he passed sentence.

He handed Watkinson 15 years behind bars with a further five years extended licence period.