AN ENGINEER who attacked his girlfriend after a birthday celebration at Kidderminster Harriers Social Club has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Robert Lloyd had taken exception to Nicola Carrington talking to other men during the evening, said Michael Conry, prosecuting at Worcester Crown Court.

And when the pair returned home, he accused her of having an affair and called her a slut. He struck her so heavily on the side of her face that he perforated an eardrum. He pulled her hair and ripped her jeans and bit her on the face.

Mr Conry said she also had a cigarette burn but they had both been smoking. At one stage he also held a knife to her throat but did not penetrate the skin.

Lloyd, aged 49, of Rossendale Avenue North. Thornton Cleveleys, Lancashire, pleaded guilty to what Judge Michael Cullum described as a "deeply unpleasant, cowardly and brutal assault."

Gary Cook, mitigating, said although Lloyd had 23 previous convictions he had kept out of trouble for the past seven years. He had a full-time job and stable accommodation.

The judge said Lloyd was a menace once he had been drinking. He suspended a 14-month jail sentence for 12 months and ordered Lloyd to do 150 hours unpaid work. He imposed £800 costs and ordered Lloyd to undertake a rehabilitation requirement under supervision for 12 months.