A BUILDING worker has been jailed after he beat up his near-naked girlfriend then threw her out of their home in the early hours.

Susan Sharp had to beg Gary Sinnett to let her back in, Worcester Crown Court heard.

He had earlier dragged her out of bed by the ankles and during a struggle she got burned against a wall-mounted gas fire.

The violence blew up at the house the couple shared in Hudson Close, Pershore, after an argument in a pub, said prosecutor Ian Ball.

Sinnett punched Miss Sharp in the face and kicked her while she lay helpless on the floor of their bedroom.

Recorder Paul Glenn described it as "a horrifying, sustained and drunken attack" and jailed Sinnett for six months.

He said the defendant had thrown Miss Sharp outside in an act calculated to humiliate her.

In a statement to police, she said she believed he was going to kill her. She has permanent scars where she was burned.

The recorder said 36-year-old Sinnett, now living in Field Way, Worcester, tried to minimise his actions and at first opted for trial before admitting assault causing actual bodily harm.

The couple had a tempestuous two-year relationship before the incident on March 30 last year.

Miss Sharp went home alone after a row in a Worcester pub and was in bed when Sinnett got back.

She was only wearing underpants when he dragged her downstairs and threw her out, said Mr Ball. He eventually let her back in - but she complained to police next day of a black eye, burns and bruising.

Nick O'Brien, defending, claimed Miss Sharp was difficult to deal with when she had consumed alcohol.

Sinnett had caused the burns by his reckless behaviour rather than as a result of a deliberate act, he added.

He added that Sinnett now had a relationship with another woman. She had never experienced violence in their 12 months together .