A scaffolder who has a history of domestic violence has been sent on a Building Better Relationships course after subjecting his partner to two terrifying attacks.

Matthew Harris, formerly of Newton Abbot, locked the victim inside her home in Exeter during the first incident and kicked her so hard during the second that she suffered bleeding and feared she had experienced a miscarriage.

She was so badly affected by the abusive relationship she suffered a mental breakdown and needed in-patient treatment at the Priory Clinic for anxiety and post traumatic stress.

Harris has convictions for harassing or assaulting two other partners, one of whom he also held prisoner in her own home.

He was freed on a suspended sentence after a judge was told he has started a new life in Cornwall and no longer has any contact with the victim.

Harris, aged 29, formerly of Wildwood Crescent, Newton Abbot but now of Trevean Lane, Penzance, admitted assault causing actual bodily harm and false imprisonment.

He was jailed for two years, suspended for two years, ordered to undertake the probation-run Building Better Relationships course and pay £1,200 costs by Recorder Mr David Bartlett at Exeter Crown Court.

He told him:’You locked your partner indoors and kept her on the premises for a matter of hours rather than days. Nevertheless, it was a thoroughly frightening, unpleasant and serious offence.

’The actual bodily harm was a serious assault and the most serious part of it was kicking her in the stomach, causing her pain and bleeding and leading to her thinking she had suffered a miscarriage.

’Most disturbingly, these are far from the first occasions of violent and dominating offending against your partners. The probation report shows you have an entrenched and unhealthy attitude towards your partners.

There is a pattern of manipulative and controlling behaviour. You are assessed at high risk of reoffending and as a serious recidivist.’

Miss Bathsheba Cassel, prosecuting, said Harris was in a relationship with a 24-year-old woman in late 2014 and early 2015 and his violence arose from a series of arguments.

In the first incident in December 2014, he took the keys of the house they were sharing at Rockside Villas in Exeter and refused to let her leave.

He attacked her during another row the next month during which he slapped her around the head, dragged her off a bed by her ankles, and kicked her so hard in the stomach she suffered severe pain and internal bleeding.

This lasted for 12 hours and led her to believe his attack had induced a miscarriage.

Miss Cassel said the woman suffered a mental breakdown three days later and left home to live with an aunt before being booked into the Priory Hospital, where she was treated for PTSD, anxiety and depression. She had to take four months off work as a result of her treatment.

An impact statement said: ’Matthew had a detrimental effect on almost every aspect of my life. It has affected my mental health and my ability to trust others in emotional relationships.’

Mr Lee Bremridge, mitigating, said Harris’s life has moved on since 2015 and he has moved to Penzance where he is now working as a scaffolder. He is remorseful and keen to undertake the course to change his pattern of behaviour.