A FURIOUS boyfriend attacked his partner as she became wedged in a kitchen window while trying to escape from him.

James Sunter had refused to let his partner leave their home following a row, locking the doors and hiding the keys on April 8.

But Bolton Crown Court heard that she was so terrified that she tried to clamber out of a small kitchen window

Gavin Howie, prosecuting, said: "She wriggled half her body through and got stuck. She slumped forward, couldn't move and was dangling down either side of the window frame, she put it, like a rag doll.

"The defendant came into the kitchen and began to rain punches on her.

"She was screaming at him to stop. She recalls the smile on his face and she finally managed to drag herself through the window and run off."

The victim was badly bruised.

The court heard that 28-year-old Sunter also assaulted his partner, the mother of his young daughter, on two other occasions, including once when he pushed her head under the water in the bath.

Sunter, of Seaforth Road, Sharples, pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm and two counts of assault.

Kevin Liston, defending, said Sunter, who has a number of previous convictions, has issues with drink, drugs and anger.

"He has expressed remorse," said Mr Liston.

Judge Timothy Stead sentenced Sunter to 10 months in prison but, because of the time already spent in custody on remand, he is likely to be released within days.

Judge Stead told him: "It is an unhappy thing that you tend to resort to aggression when you have difficulties in life.

"Your partner was trying to leave the property and she got stuck in a window.

"Rather than rescue her you took the opportunity to lay into her with punches."