A jealous man attacked and tried to throttle his former partner before hacking off her long hair telling her that no one would find her attractive now.

Lee Emmery, 26, of Boundary Close, Dereham, attacked the victim when she returned from a night out and accused her in a jealous rage of being unfaithful. Norwich Crown Court heard.

Lindsay Cox, prosecuting, said Emmery grabbed the victim by the hair and banged her head against a wall before trying to throttle her, putting his hands tightly round her neck so she could not breathe.

He said she kept passing in and out of consciousness and he stuffed his fingers down her throat.

Mr Cox said the terrified victim thought he would kill her.

He then grabbed scissors and cut chunks of her long fair hair before shaving her head.

Mr Cox said: 'The victim had been quite proud of her hair and that was something he was acutely aware of.'

He told the victim that no one would find her attractive now.

The victim only managed to escape when a friend called to check on her and she was able to climb out of a window to safety.

Mr Cox said that the victim was taken to hospital suffering from a fractured wrist and also had bruising round her neck and a black eye.

Emmery admitted casing grievous bodily harm on May 18, this year, and was jailed for two and half years.

The court heard he had previous convictions for violence.

Jailing him for two and half years, Judge Anthony Bate said: ''Your jealously got the better of you. A degrading aspect of this incident is the way you ruined her long hair.'

He said that the victim was justly proud of her hair and he had roughly cut off her hair giving her a short crop.

He said the whole incident had a profound effect on the victim ,

Judge Bate said that he regarded Emmery as a danger to any potential partner and asked on his release to see if extra conditions could be attached so see that his risks were properly managed.

Ian James, for Emmery, said he deserved credit for his guilty plea.

'He has spared her the ordeal of coming to court. He wants to apologise to her.'

He said that Emmery felt shame over the way he had behaved.