A TERRIFIED woman was attacked in her own home by her knife-wielding partner following an early morning row over a phone charger.

Maryport man Mark Midgley, 48, who unleashed his drink-fuelled violence while there were children in the property, left the victim with knife wounds to her neck, wrist, and ear as he “lost all control”, said a judge.

He admitted causing the woman grievous bodily harm.

Kim Whittlestone, prosecuting at Carlisle Crown Court, said the defendant and the victim were in a relationship for around 18 months and she was vulnerable because she had recently lost two close relatives.

At around 1am on May 23, Midgley became annoyed during a row that was triggered by a disagreement over a mobile phone charger. To get away from Midgley, the woman left the bedroom and went to the bathroom.

But he followed her.

Midgley then followed her into the kitchen, where he repeatedly punched the woman to the head and face before dragging her to the floor.

“He had hold of a silver kitchen knife,” said Miss Whittlestone. “He was swinging it towards her.” The blade caught the woman’s neck, ear and wrist as he threatened to kill her. She tried to grab a phone to call the police but he stopped her.

The commotion woke the neighbours who called round to check that everybody was okay but Midgley sent them away, claiming everything was calm.

Referring to the victim, Miss Whittlestone said: “She kept asking him to leave but he refused. He said he was sorry."

A concerned relative later alerted the police, who arrived later that day to find the victim “shocked and in pain.”

“Initially, she was too scared to cooperate,” said Miss Whittlestone. “But she provided a statement and fully engaged once she knew the defendant was in custody. She had confided in a friend that she was battered by him and he’d sliced her.”

In her victim statement, the woman said she remained scared and wondered whether there would be repercussions following Midgley’s conviction.

The woman felt anxious, and reported that the defendant had also threatened to harm her ex-partner, with whom she had a good relationship.

“She no longer feels safe,” said the barrister.

Andrew Parkinson, defending, said neither of the two previous offences of violence on Midgley’s record were domestic in their nature. One dated back to when the defendant was a youth.

The defendant’s parents, who were in court to support him, wanted Midgley, from Crosby Street, Maryport, to live with them in Lancashire.

Judge Nicholas Barker said it was implicit from the allegation the defendant had admitted that he had not intended to cause the victim grievous bodily harm.

He had swung the knife in a “wild and reckless way.”

Had he intended to cause the injuries sustained he would have faced a jail term of “many years,” pointed out the judge. “But it was abundantly clear that you lost all control of yourself,” continued the judge.

“Wild with anger, you had no reason left in you.”

Midgley stopped the victim calling the police, leaving her to face hours when she tried to calm him down while in pain from "an unpleasant set of injuries" caused by the knife. Yet Midgley appeared to lack true remorse.

“You have a problem with violence in domestic settings,” the judge told Midgley. “There is evidence that you were drunk at the time. You are fortunate to have support, but you present a high risk of harm to women you are in a relationship with.”

Judge Barker jailed the defendant for two years. He also imposed a restraining order banning any contact with the victim for five years.

Midgley was originally charged with intentionally wounding the woman but the prosecution accepted his guilty plea to the less serious charge on the day the trial was due to start.