A JEALOUS lover attacked his girlfriend after she confessed that she had been unfaithful to him while he was serving a prison sentence, Worcester Crown Court was told.

The day after he had cut his arm with a knife, Frank Cole completely lost his temper and grabbed her round the throat, said Tariq Shakoor, prosecuting.

He held her down on a bed and plunged a knife into a cushion one inch from her ear. He held the blade by her mouth and at one stage put it to his own stomach and tried to get her to stab him.

Cole, aged 36, of Ploughmans Rise, Westlands, Droitwich, was jailed for two-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to assaulting Joanne Yaxley causing actual bodily harm.

Judge Ian Morris described him as a "jealous and possessive man" who had caused his victim to be terrified.

Mr Shakoor said Cole had assaulted 30-year-old Miss Yaxley twice before and had received a four-month sentence in July last year for the last offence.

When he was released, she had taken him back into her home and was prepared to give him a second chance.

But in October, she confessed that she had been having a sexual relationship with an ex-partner and Cole took the news very badly. He became very aggressive towards Miss Yaxley and this culminated in the attack, which left her petrified.

Timothy Green, defending, said it was not a premeditated, sadistic attack but that it had been triggered by the confession.

Cole accepted his actions were unjustified but he had been struggling with his emotions.