A SALISBURY bricklayer assaulted his former partner in a horrific ordeal which lasted eight hours after he discovered she had 'poked' an ex-boyfriend on Facebook, a court heard.

Richard Thornborough, 24, was sentenced to three years and five months in prison for the attack on his ex-girlfriend Stephanie Farrant.

Winchester Crown Court heard how Thornborough, previously of Barnard Street, whipped Miss Farrant with the metal leg of a clothes horse up to 40 times.

The victim was left with extensive bruising across her body after the ordeal on December 18 last year, which began at 11pm and lasted until 7.30am in the morning.

The court heard how on December 21, 2015, Thornborough returned to Miss Farrant's address and kneed her in the face because she had 'lied' to him 'about being drunk.'

These offences happened while the defendant was already on bail for committing an assault occasioning actual bodily harm against victim Lee Greenwood.

Thornborough was today sentenced for one count of ABH and one count of battery against Miss Farrant and one count of ABH against Mr Greenwood.

Mr Tim Akers prosecuting, said: "The defendant has a two-year-old daughter with Stephanie Farrant.

"A supervised contact regime was in place, but Stephanie Farrant had been having the defendant to stay on a regular basis.

"The two of them were in the lounge at her home when he asked her to log into her Facebook account and he started going through it.

"This went on for a period of six hours, starting at 11pm.

"He saw she had been poked on Facebook by an ex and she had poked him back.

"He grabbed her face and pushed it away from him and then got a leg from a metal clothes horse.

"Things progressed into the dining area and the defendent was saying 'just tell me the truth' while he was whipping Miss Farrant on her legs and bottom with the leg of the clothes horse.

"This happened 30 or 40 times over a few hours.

"The defendant then threw the clothes horse leg at Miss Farrant, and the sharp end cut her head.

"There was a large amount of blood coming out.

"The defendant appeared concerned but as soon as the bleeding stopped he didn't care.

"The assault went on for a long time. At one point Miss Farrant described him as giving her a bear hug, and she felt a cracking sensation in her ribs.

"The defendant also cut himself on the wrist with a kitchen knife.

"The ordeal ended at 7.30 am the following morning.

"The daughter woke up and came downstairs and the defendant said to Stephanie 'if you're not going to start telling the truth I'm going to start taking it out on our child."

The court heard Thornborough did not hurt his two-year-old daughter, but he told her to go back upstairs to bed before falling asleep on the sofa.

Mr Akers added: "Regarding the battery on Monday December 21, a telephone conversation took place between the defendant and Miss Farrant.

"She had been drinking and was feeling emotional.

"He arrived at her address and let himself in with a key he had cut without her permission.

"The defendant was almost thriving on the fact that she had lied to him - she had been drinking alochol but she had told him she hadn't.

"He grabbed her head and smashed it into her knee quite hard and then took the nine o'clock bus back home."

The court heard how Thornborough had previous convictions including harassment and battery against Miss Farrant.

Regarding the assault against Lee Greenwood on July 3, 2015 at the Hope and Anchor pub, Mr Akers described how punches were thrown in a confrontation between Thornborough and Mr Greenwood.

Thornborough was barred from the pub but he later returned with his brother and assaulted Mr Greenwood.

The court heard how he straddled Mr Greenwood and hit him with 'extreme force' with the end of a broken pool cue, leaving the victim lying in a 'pool of blood.'

Tom Horder, mitigating, said: "This is a defendant who does understand the seriousness of both matters.

"He wants to say he is sorry for what he has done and he hopes to be able to rehabilitate and have a fruitful relationship with his daughter.

"On the day of the assault against Lee Greenwood he had lost his job and also been made homeless."

Thornborough, whose mother was in the public gallery, lowered his head as he was sentenced to 41 months in prison.

Sentencing him, Judge Susan Evans QC, said: "You have demonstrated controlling behaviour towards Miss Farrant in the past.

"She suffered a lengthy ordeal at your hands over eight hours.

"There were 22 bruises on her body and the bruises were extensive. This was a sustained attack."

Thornborough was sentenced to 15 months in prison for the ABH offence against Mr Greenwood, 24 months for the assault on Miss Farrant occasioning ABH and two months for the battery, to run consecutively.

He was also handed a restraining order and must pay a victim surcharge.