A MAN who launched a vicious assault on his girlfriend stabbing her through the hand has been jailed.

David Young, 43, hit his partner across the face with a brush, dragged her round a room, punching and kicking her before stabbing her with a kitchen knife, a court heard.

The deep wound left her with tendon damage and caused her chronic pain.

Prosecuting at Burnley Crown Court, Andrew Evans, said Young had been out with his partner Sabina English, who was in court with Young’s mother, on a night out on March 18 and arrived at her home in Stacksteads separately.

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Mr Evans said: “He started kicking off.

“Without any warning he attacked her with a brush hitting her across the face causing the brush head to break.”

After kicking and punching her she put her left hand on the table.

“He used one of her kitchen knives to stab her through the hand. It went all the way through. She pulled the knife out,” he said.

“He has gone to mop up the blood and she went upstairs to get away from the situation.”

The court heard she later went to a cousin’s house across the road who called an ambulance and the police.

Mr Evans said the wound was deep extending through the hand and exploratory surgery was carried out to assess tendon damage to the middle finger.

She was told it would cause her continued chronic pain which would be treated by physio.

He said the fact the tendon was not severed ‘was by luck rather than judgement’.

“In interview David Young said she had attacked him, had stabbed herself and already had a towel wrapped around her bleeding hand,” Mr Evans said.

The court heard Young, of New Line, Bacup, had previous convictions for violence dating back to 1997 when he was jailed for grievous bodily harm, in 2002 and 2008 for public disorder and common assault.

In 2009 he was jailed for possession of a knife and in 2012 he was jailed for 56 months for his part in two robberies when one of his accomplices picked up a knife.

The court heard Young, who had a history of alcohol and substance abuse, was originally before the court on a more serious wounding charge but pleaded guilty to wounding without specific intent.

Defending, Patrick Buckley, said Young had entered an early guilty plea, and while in custody had been engaging with people who could help him, taking courses and subscribed for a place on an alcoholic awareness programme

“He has the support of his partner who is in court today,” Mr Buckley said.

“He is ashamed to have attacked his partner. It was a momentary lapse of control and sobriety brings shame.

“He remains confused as to why he did what he did. The only answer the two of them can deduce is alcohol is his demon.”

Sentencing him to five years, three years two months of which will be spent custody and the rest as an extension period, Judge Andrew Woolman said he believed Young posed a significant risk of causing serious harm when in drink or taking too much in the way of drugs

He said: “It is fairly unusual for courts to impose a sentence of this type for this offence but in my judgement I would be failing in my public duty if I did not.”