A THUG has been jailed for a savage drink and drug-fuelled rampage that saw him attacking his girlfriend so violently she was left covered in blood and hiding under her bed.

Michael Cairns lost the plot with Jaye Coubrough at her home in Laymoor Walk, Renfrew, on January 11.

He was accused of strangling her, raining punches on her head and repeatedly gouging at her eyes but struck a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to a reduced charge when he appeared in the dock at Paisley Sheriff Court last week.

Cairns admitted grabbing Miss Coubrough by the throat and compressing it, pinning her to the floor, punching her on the head, striking her in the eye with his thumb and pulling her by the hair.

The charge he pleaded guilty to was aggravated by abuse of his partner and the fact he was on bail at the time, having been released in connection with an Alloa Sheriff Court case in October last year.

Procurator fiscal depute Ruth Cockburn told the court that Miss Coubrough contacted the police after the attack took place.

She added: "When officers arrived, they could see she was distressed. They could see she was covered in blood and her T-shirt was ripped.

"The police noted that there were four children in the property and found all four children crying."

However, defence solicitor Kevin Brady said Miss Coubrough's injuries were "perhaps not as bad as they appeared."

He added: "There was a small laceration. He accepts he shouldn't be consuming alcohol and diazepam.

"As this court knows, these substances should not be mixed, he had a massive overreaction.

"He apologises for the conduct. It's a bad assault and he acknowledges that. He wanted to accept, at the earliest opportunity, his guilt and have the matter dealt with.

"He did not want the children brought to court and did not want the complainer brought to court."

Mr Brady said Cairns, who has a previous conviction for domestic assault that saw him admonished in 2010, had been tying to earn a living as a personal trainer but was struggling to get by, so took up a job as a railway worker.

Miss Cockburn told Sheriff Lindsey Kooner that Miss Coubrough had said she supported the imposition of a Non-Harassment Order on Cairns, which would see him banned from approaching or contacting her in any way.

She added: "This is due to his controlling behaviour and previous history of violence.

"It is her position that she is the victim of mental and physical abuse from the accused."

Sheriff Kooner told Carins: "Clearly, you don't need me to relay to you how entirely unacceptable your conduct was.

"You have a significant record of previous convictions, albeit there is a gap in your offending behaviour.

"The court will impose a Non-Harassment Order in this case. It is difficult for me to decide on a suitable time or context of the conditions of that but I will impose a Non-Harassment Order for a period of six months."

Sheriff Kooner jailed Cairns for 220 days, reduced from 330 days as he admitted his guilt.

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