A man who beat his girlfriend so badly a judge said he had rarely seen such severe bruising has narrowly avoided a long spell behind bars.

John Dickman, 22, attacked his now-former partner on a number of occasions.

In July last year, he punched her in the face and smashed her iPhone after he thought she had been talking to another man. Another time he hit her after she bought the wrong things while shopping.

When the pair were in Canterbury High Street, he punched her hard to the lip and was confronted by two members of the public. The victim ran off, but Dickman caught up with her and “dragged her home by her hair and hit her”.

In a separate incident in the city, Dickman screamed at his girlfriend and threw a bottle of shower gel at her back, and on another occasion he broke her phone when he lost his temper while playing a game.

Dickman, of Grove Avenue, Leysdown-on-Sea, admitted three offences of assault by beating, two of criminal damage and one of assault causing actual harm.

Commenting on pictures of the victim's injuries, Judge James O’Mahony said: “I have hardly ever seen bruising like it.”

“He cannot properly deal with situations which arise in relationships, such as arguments..." - defence solicitor Paul Hogben

Dickman was jailed for two years but the sentence was suspended for the same period. He had already spent six months in custody before sentencing.

Paul Hogben, defending, said when Dickman was 18 months old he had an operation on a brain tumour which had affected him all his life.

“He is a young man whose maturity is a lot lower than his chronological age,” Mr Hogben said. “He cannot properly deal with situations which arise in relationships, such as arguments. The six months spent on remand has been a great punishment for him.”

Judge O'Mahony added: "It is clear to me that the operation has affected him and there is a mental disability.”

Dickman was ordered to take part in 25 sessions of rehabilitation and was given a 12-month restraining order, banning him from contacting his victim.