A MAN who lay in wait for his girlfriend to return from the pub before launching a “savage attack” on her has been jailed.

Stacy Nicholas smothered Leanne Chedzey’s face with a pillow before dragging her off a bed.

The 36-year-old had earlier let himself into her house using a key she did not know he had, Oxford Crown Court heard yesterday.

He was convicted by a jury of assault occasioning actual bodily harm earlier this year.

Kevin West, prosecuting, said the pair had been out drinking together on September 5 last year but Miss Chedzey later went on to a pub on her own. When she returned to her home at about 5am, Nicholas, of Orchard Road, Ardley, near Bicester, was waiting.

Mr West said: “He put his hand over her mouth, then grabbed her wrists and put a pillow over her face.”

Nicholas, who has previous convictions for ABH, GBH and affray, then “pulled her off the bed by her leg”.

Miss Chedzey, who is no longer with her attacker, suffered cuts, scratches and bruises, the court heard.

Sophie Murray, defending, said: “This is his first conviction for domestic violence.

“It’s this relationship and the drink involved in this relationship that has caused him to behave in this manner.”

Jailing him for nine months, Judge Christopher Compston said: “This was a savage attack. It had no justification whatsoever.”