A woman whose boyfriend stamped on her head and drove a car at her has vowed: “I’ll stick by him.”

Janice Goodall was at Bournemouth Crown Court to hear prosecutors recount the day Scott Keeping grew paranoid that she had been having an affair and attacked her after he had left prison.

He subjected her to a “vicious” ordeal during which he also punched her and drove at her when she tried to escape.

But his 49-year-old girlfriend will be at the prison gates when he is released from his 26-month sentence.

“I love him and I’ll stick by him,” she said. “I believe he needs support.”

Her ordeal started after she got a text message from a friend and the 39-year-old pushed Janice to the ground. He stamped on her head three times before pulling her to her feet by her hair, ripping out some strands in the process.

When he made her drive him away from her Lytchett Matravers home he pulled the handbrake at 40 miles an hour and when she ran away he jumped in the driving seat and went for her, ending up in a bush before reversing out.

She flagged down a van and jumped into it to get to safety but Keeping rammed her car into it and chased after them, only stopping when he hit a tree and the car was ruined.

“I’ve always thought I’ll stick by him 100 per cent,” Janice said.

“He’s the most gentle and caring person I’ve met in my life.”

The pair met 18 months ago after she had been through a divorce and she said he helped her get over it and stay in touch with her family.

Janice, who used to be a carer for children with ADHD, said they lived at her home together when she moved away from Swanage and he left West Howe in Bournemouth.

She said Keeping struggled with moving to a village but had learnt to read and write in prison on a previous sentence and “was making great progress” and was getting away from drugs.

“He’s written lovely things in letters from jail and I’ve written lots to him as well,” she said.

“We’re so happy together it’s unbelievable.”