MAN JAILED FOR VICIOUS ASSAULT ON HEAVILY PREGNANT GIRLFRIEND IN NEWCASTLE

A man repeatedly punched his heavily pregnant girlfriend in the face days after being released from jail for an earlier attack on her, a court has heard.Darren Cornish, 33, assaulted the woman as she walked along West Road in Newcastle in September last year, the city's crown court heard.The woman, who was seven months pregnant, said she had been living in "constant fear" of Cornish, who had been jailed weeks before.Cornish, of Tennyson Court in Gateshead, admitted assault causing actual bodily harm and was jailed for two years.The woman was punched six times in the face by Cornish at about 21:00 BST on 6 September, prosecutor Caroline McGurk said.It was their first meeting after Cornish had been released from prison and during the attack he falsely accused her of cheating on him while he was incarcerated, the court heard.‘Right to be petrified’Cornish had been jailed for eight weeks in August by magistrates in Northumberland for an attack on her in July which had left her face and head covered in cuts and bruises, the court heard.In a statement read to the court, the woman said she was "absolutely petrified" of Cornish and had been living in "constant fear" of him, adding he had "ruined" her life.She had since withdrawn her support for the prosecution, Ms McGurk said.In mitigation, Nick Lane said Cornish, who had 45 convictions for 70 offences, was keen to develop a relationship with his new child having lost contact with previous children.Recorder Richard Herrmann said Cornish had served multiple prison terms for violence and his history was "littered" with breaches of court orders.He said the woman was "extremely vulnerable" and had been "right to be petrified" of Cornish. The judge said Cornish, who had drug and alcohol issues, had been assessed as posing a "high risk" of harm to others.