A KIDDERMINSTER man said to have dragged his girlfriend down two flights of stairs by her hair is facing an extended prison term when he is sentenced.

A jury at Worcester Crown Court unanimously found 24-year-old Clifford Hodgkins guilty of assaulting 21-year-old Michelle Connolly, causing her physical harm.

He was also convicted of two common assaults on Miss Connolly during a nine-day period last Christmas.

Hodgkins, of Victoria Place, Foley Park, also has to be sentenced for another assault on Miss Connolly, an assault on her mother, Donna Keen, and possession of a knife. He admitted those offences before the trial.

Judge David McEvoy QC, remanding Hodgkins in custody, said he wanted a pre-sentence report so he could decide whether he was a danger to the public from violence.

Prosecutor Tim Sapwell said it was a case of domestic violence in a relationship which had begun a year ago.

The couple had argued over Christmas and Miss Connolly, of Witley Close, Kidderminster, had been hit on the head and on the arms with a 4ft long stick.

Miss Connolly told the court she could remember little about the attacks but agreed she had made a statement to police that she was terrified after she had been grabbed by the hair and dragged down stairs.

She added, however, she had made a second statement in which she said she had made a mistake and did not want to carry on with the allegations. "I love him," she said.

Hodgkins told the court they had both fallen down the stairs because they were drunk.

He denied hitting Miss Connolly and said she had made up the allegations because she was jealous after hearing he had slept with her friend.