A FORMER boyfriend who beat a woman after dragging her out of bed by her hair has been jailed for two years.

Bolton Crown Court heard how Andrew Ferguson had previously served a prison sentence for attacking his ex-girlfriend and a restraining order was in place to prevent him contacting her.

Alaric Bassano, prosecuting, told how he was released from jail in June, 2015 and at first abided by the order.

But in September last year he tracked her down the 30-year-old at her home in Victoria Grove, Halliwell, and walked in uninvited, demanding to see his son.

The woman took her children to her mother's home and returned to the house, where 53-year-old Ferguson had remained with her friend.

But when she stepped back inside her house Ferguson locked the doors, started smashing crockery and threatened her before grabbing her from behind in the kitchen whilst holding a knife.

"However, he did not, in fact, make any attempt to stab her with it," said Mr Bassano.

"He eventually put the knife down."

The woman fled the house and returned in the early hours, creeping past Ferguson asleep on the sofa.

Two weeks later, on October 2, the woman was asleep in bed at between 9am and 10am.

"She was awoken by being dragged from the bed by her hair by the defendant," said Mr Bassano.

"She landed on the floor and the defendant repeatedly punched her to the head and face.

"The complainant was in shock and screamed out. The defendant then stopped and absurdly claimed, in an effort to diminish his own culpability, that he hadn't meant to inflict such damage which had, in fact, been caused by his bracelet."

The woman suffered cuts and bruises to her face.

In a victim statement the woman told the court: "Andrew is a bully and a very violent person."

Ferguson, of Moorfield Grove, Bolton, pleaded guilty to assault, causing actual bodily harm and acting in breach of a restraining order.

The court heard that he has previous convictions for violence, weapons and drugs offences.

Mark Friend, defending, said: "The defendant was very anxious to play a role in his son's life. He accepts he went about it in an entirely inappropriate way."

He added that, on release from prison, Ferguson plans to relocate to a different part of Europe.

Judge Graeme Smith sentenced Ferguson to two years in prison.

"It was a sustained and vicious assault," he told him.