A woman has been left with "paralysing fear" after she was beaten so hard by her "Incredible Hulk" boyfriend she heard her ribs crack.

Forklift truck driver Scott Garrett, from Canterbury, was said to be "raging" as he tried to hunt down his stash of cocaine before viciously attacking his partner as she lay on her bed.

Canterbury Crown Court heard she not only suffered physical harm in the form of broken ribs and a punctured lung but also psychological trauma in that she felt she would never want an intimate relationship again.

She also told police she believed Garrett, who has 41 previous convictions for a staggering 104 offences, had deliberately targeted that area of her body knowing that she has the back condition spondylosis as well as osteoarthritis.

Prosecutor Antony Hook said despite being a couple for just six weeks, the relationship was already "toxic" by the time of the assault.

"He would often hit or beat her and take cocaine which caused him, in her words, to be like the Incredible Hulk," he told the court. "He would also act in a controlling way, looking through her phone messages and ridiculing her."

The court heard the woman was nodding off to sleep at her home in Canterbury on the evening of July 15 when she was woken by Garrett "in a state of rage" and slamming doors as he looked for his drugs.

The 36-year-old then grabbed a bottle of whiskey and threatened to hit his girlfriend in the face, before kicking her and punching her five times in the back.

"On the fourth blow she heard the sound of a crack to her ribs. He told her 'Next time I'll kill you' and she believed that threat," Mr Hook told the court.

Injured, she fled to a nearby property and was taken to hospital where staff alerted police. However, she was initially too scared to make a statement or go to court.

But as she lay in her hospital bed, a manipulative Garrett sent her numerous texts in which he professed his love while accusing her of attacking him.

Garrett, of Tennyson Avenue, Canterbury, was arrested and later admitted unlawful wounding. His criminal history, described by the judge as "woeful", includes offences of domestic-related abuse and assaulting police.

In a victim impact statement, his former partner described herself as feeling "lost, frightened and in excruciating pain". Two scars from a chest drain were also a daily reminder of her ordeal, she added.

"She was worried about the long-term effects of her injuries, did not wish to have another relationship in the future, and was terrified the defendant would kill her," Mr Hook told the court.

"She is afraid of people walking behind her in public and says it is making her feel a shell of her former self...She doesn't expect to ever mentally recover from this incident."

Emily Mattin, defending, said Garrett was remorseful for his actions and the pain caused to his ex-girlfriend, adding that he had himself been "profoundly" affected by trauma he suffered from an abusive father.

But on imposing a 38-month jail term, Judge Alison Russell castigated Garrett's repeated shaking of the head during the hearing as well as his attempts in a pre-sentence report to shift blame onto his victim and minimise his behaviour.

She also remarked that his own experience of domestic violence should have made him more conscious of its impact and not in fact a repeat abuser.
"This was a particularly cowardly attack as you knew she was disabled by reason of her spondylosis of the spine and osteoarthritis in her spinal discs, and she believes you punched and kicked her in the back because you knew she was vulnerable," Judge Russell told Garrett, who appeared in court via prison video link.

"Even while she was in her hospital bed you sent her messages, discussing her injuries and callously asking to see a copy of her X-ray.

"You said someone would need to take care of her and you professed to love her. You denied assaulting her and even suggested she had beaten you up.

"The attending police officer video recorded her initial account. He described her as appearing very subdued....She didn't want to make a statement or go to court such was her fear of you.

"In her victim personal statement she has described the physical and mental impact of your vicious assault....Every bang, the shutting of a car door or knock at the door makes her jump out of her skin and puts her in immediate and paralysing fear.

"Such was your betrayal of her trust that she has decided she cannot enter an intimate relationship because she fears being hurt once more...This was a prolonged and persistent assault with you raining multiple blows on her."

Referring to Garrett's own abusive home life, Judge Russell continued: "I consider that should make you in particular aware of the harmful effects of violence in a domestic setting rather than perpetrating it yourself on more than one of your partners."

The judge imposed a five-year restraining order banning Garrett from going within 100 metres of his former partner's road.