A thug who burst into the bedroom of his girlfriend’s stepfather in the early hours and battered him with a metal bat has been jailed for seven years.

Piotr Oruba was angry that Marinsz Olszewski had told his stepdaughter Agnieszka Bednarek to leave if she did not like the rules of the house.

He did so because she had been cleaning her trainers in the washing machine late in the evening on April 18, making a noise.

She called Oruba, originally from Poland, at his London home and asked him to collect her from the flat in Gravesend. She packed her belongings and waited for him.

After he arrived in the early hours, he drove her away in his car. They did not get far when 29-year-old Aruba declared: “We are not leaving this as it is. We are going to have a word.”

Prosecutor John Livingston said Oruba drove back to the flat in at Baltic Wharf. Miss Bednarek sent her mother Renata Piwowarczyk a text telling her Oruba was there.

Oruba burst into Mr Olszewski’s bedroom, where he was sleeping with Miss Bednarek’s mother, and shouted: “We are going to have a word.” Mr Olszewski replied: “You should have knocked.”

'This was a nasty unprovoked assault on a man who was sleeping before he was attacked'

“Miss Bednarek said she had never seen the defendant in such an angry state,” Mr Livingston told a jury at Maidstone Crown Court. “She saw him pull something solid out of his clothing.

“She said it looked like a police baton. The defendant started to hit Mr Olszewski about the head. He hit him with enough force to make him briefly lose consciousness.

“His partner Renata said the defendant was setting about him with all his might. She tried to pull him off. He seems to have regained consciousness.

“He was hit not only to the head, but also to the leg and arms. He could feel a lot of blood pouring down his face. He used his legs to push the defendant away.”

They wrestled on the floor before a lodger intervened and separated them. Oruba and Miss Bednarek left the blood-spattered flat and drove to London.

The victim was treated for a gash to the side of his head, which left a scar, and a cut to his elbows, as well as bruising to his body.

“He got a good thumping with this baton,” said Mr Livingston. The baton had been thrown in the Thames and was not recovered.

Oruba, of Upper Richmond Road, Richmond, South West London, had later offered to pay the victim some money in compensation for his injuries, but nothing came of it - and he subsequently

suggested he was going to report the victim for trying to extort money from him.

He then went on the run from officers despite knowing he was wanted by police.

Officers were alerted that he had boarded a plane to Poland and upon his return to the UK police met him at the airport and he was taken to a police station on June 4 before subsequently being charged with the offence.

He denied wounding with intent, claiming he acted in lawful self-defence, but was convicted.

Investigating Officer Detective Constable Rebecca Ward said: "This was a nasty unprovoked assault on a man who was sleeping before he was attacked by Oruba.

"The victim sustained a nasty injury to his head as well as bruising to his body. Oruba tried to evade capture and has continued to deny his involvement in the incident. I hope this sentencing reminds others of the consequences of such behaviour."