A thug drunkenly assaulted his partner, punching, kicking biting her while already on bail for assaulting her before, a court has heard.

Kenny Lee Ridgley, 37, had been in a "toxic" relationship with his then partner for around three years, during which time he had already assaulted her twice, before launching his most serious attack on July 4 this year.

Minshull Street Crown Court heard how this erupted after an argument between the pair as they came home from a friend’s party in which Ridgley had been drinking whiskey despite his partner’s requests to stop.

Joshua Bowker, prosecuting, said: “Throughout the assault, the defendant shouted that she deserved it and that he was going to kill her.”

He added: “She thought that he was never going to stop.”

Mr Bowker told the court how Ridgley, of Chapelfield, Radcliffe, went to his victim’s home after the argument, let himself in and snatched a phone out of her hand.

He then punched her repeatedly and also twice punched her dog when she called out to it to defend her.

Mr Bowker explained that Ridgley, who has 38 previous convictions for 83 offences, was already breaking bail conditions he had been given June 14 for a previous assault on his victim forbidding him from contacting her.

During the latest assault he stomped on his victim’s head, dragged her by the hair, kicked her several times and even bit her on the back of the head.

When the police arrived, he then asked her to hide him under the bed and tell the officers he had gone.

After being arrested, Ridgley lied and claimed his victim had actually been assaulted by another woman and at first pleaded not guilty before Manchester and Salford Magistrates Court on July 5.

But he admitted his crimes and pleaded guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm on the first day of his trial, again before the magistrates court, on August 10.

Daniel Calder, defending, argued that Ridgley still deserved credit for having pleaded guilty and told the court that many of his crimes stemmed from an extremely tough background.

He said that Ridgley had grown up in a "violent household" and that his formal education was "all but non-existent".

Mr Calder told the court that the one time in his life that his client had been able to stay out of trouble was a period between 2011 and 2014 when he "found succour in religion" and sought help from various Christian charities.

He said that this demonstrated that Ridgley was capable of better things and claimed that he felt real remorse and ‘enormous shame’ for what he had done.

Mr Calder said: “He wants to change, he says he wants help to change but he knows that the ultimate responsibility lies with him.”

Recorder Michael Blakey acknowledged these factors in Ridgley’s background.

He said: “It’s right to say that you have had a dreadful background.”

He added: “I accept that you are ashamed of what you did and you are remorseful.”

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But Recorder Blakey felt that Ridgley’s crimes were serious enough that only a jail sentence was appropriate.

He sentenced Ridgley to two years and eight months in prison and hit him with a restraining order "without limit of time" forbidding him from contacting his ex-partner.

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