A WEST Cumbrian man who subjected his partner to an hour-long attack during which he wielded a hammer has been jailed.

Jordan Mattinson's victim had been his partner for 16 years and she was left with bruising over much of her body after he dragged, kicked, and repeatedly hit her during the late-night attack at their Cleator Moor home, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

The 36-year-old defendant, of Melbreak Avenue, Cleator Moor, admitted causing Laura Mackereth grievous bodily harm.

Mattinson turned violent shortly after returning home at 11.30pm on August 7, the court heard.

The couple were not getting on, and, finding his partner in a bedroom where she was trying to sleep, he quickly "kicked off," the court heard.

He pushed her on to a bed, squeezed her mouth and face and pulled her hair.

She kept telling him to get off.

After pulling her to a second bedroom, he continued the attack, kicking her in the back, causing "horrible pain."

The assault continued for an hour, with Mattinson hitting her "numerous times" as she tried to protect herself.

At one point, he went downstairs and armed himself with a meat cleaver, which he then used to cut his own face.

Miss Mackereth's ordeal ended when her stepfather arrived and took her to hospital.

At the house, police recovered a blue-handled hammer which he had used during the attack.

In a statement, Miss Mackereth, who repeatedly told Mattinson he needed help during the attack, said: "I feel broken; I feel empty and devastated."

She struggled to come to terms with what happened and suffered panic attacks.

Kim Whittlestone, for Mattinson, said he struggled with his mental health and was diagnosed three years ago with an autistic spectrum disorder.

"He's extremely remorseful," she said.

Recorder Lawrence McDonald said the victim was attacked by her partner in her one home when she was entitled to feel safe.

"You later took up a knife," said the judge. "That didn't form part of the assault on Miss Mackereth.

"You used the knife on yourself. But we can only imagine the the fear she must have felt."

The judge noted a Probation Service report which concluded Mattinson posed a "high risk of harm" to his victim and to future partners.

Taking all factors into account, he could not suspend the jail sentence, he said.

Mattinson was jailed for two years and two months.

The judge also imposed an indefinite restraining order, banning any contact with his victim.