A VIOLENT lout who subjected his partner's two year old son to a “savage” beating and left him physically and psychologically injured has been jailed for 15 months.

The 31-year-old father of two, whose current girlfriend is pregnant, had set about the tot after he broke up his cigarettes.

The victim’s mother, who had hit the infant’s head against a wall in a separate incident and did nothing to help him on either occasion, was spared prison.

The mother-of-two, whose children are both in care, is also expecting another child, Burnley Crown Court heard.

The pair, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim, had been charged with two counts of child cruelty, between May and July 2007.

The 30-year-old mother had admitted the allegations while her then boyfriend denied them and was convicted after a recent trial.

The court had earlier been told how the couple, who moved in together in Burnley within 24 hours of meeting in the street, lived in a dysfunctional, chaotic household where they drank and took drugs.

The property was filthy, there was no food, no toys for the child and there were so many casual visitors, also taking drink and drugs and sleeping in the attic, it was said to be like “Piccadilly Station.”

The male defendant, now living in Nelson, and who also has a record for domestic violence, sobbed as soon as he stepped into the dock to hear his fate.

The child’s mother, who had given evidence against him, was given a three-year community order with supervision.

Sentencing, Recorder David Knifton told the pair they had been “singularly unfit” to have the care of a young child.

He went on: “He plainly suffered from your lack of care. The courts have a duty to protect the vulnerable and those who cannot protect them-selves.”