A MAN attacked his ex-partner in her own home before pouring cooking oil over the kitchen floor and telling her he would set the house ablaze.

Katie Fellows found "snarling and spitting" Alex Kelly, previously Alex Barton, standing over her bed late at night on May 27.

Kelly, who is of no fixed abode, forced her face into the mattress with the palm of his hand and chased her down the stairs.

On Friday, August 25, he appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court to be sentenced after admitting assault and criminal damage.

Tim Akers, prosecuting, said Ms Fellows heard the gate at the side of her property being unlatched on the night of the incident.

Moments later, she opened her eyes to discover the defendant's face six inches away from her own.

"He started shouting and swearing," Mr Akers said.

"He put one knee on the bed to stop her getting out."

Kelly then pushed the right side of Ms Fellows' face into the duvet until she cried out with pain, the court heard.

The victim managed to get out of bed, but the defendant pushed her so she stumbled backwards, hitting her head against the bedroom wall.

He coughed up phlegm and spat it on her bed.

Ms Fellows then ran downstairs, with Kelly close behind her. Kelly grabbed her hair and pulled it, but Ms Fellows managed to escape outside to call the police.

As she left the property, he smashed two ornamental plates and poured cooking oil over the floor, shouting: "I'm going to set the house on fire."

He then went outside and grabbed her hair once again, spinning her around and throwing her to the floor, before getting on a bicycle and riding away.

Mitigating, Karen Archer said Kelly, 25, spent his youth in the care system, with 166 placements in the first 16 years of his life.

He is now seeing a counsellor and studying for GCSEs in English and maths.

At the time of the attack, Kelly was in breach of a suspended sentence for burglary and shoplifting offences and a conditional discharge for criminal damage, it was heard.

Judge Jonathan Fuller QC told the defendant he "ran amok" during the incident.

"You have an appalling record," he said.

"There was absolutely no reason for the violence you showed."

Kelly was sentenced to six months in prison. He must also comply with an indefinite restraining order protecting Ms Fellows from any further contact.