A THUG who fractured his ex-girlfriend's jaw when he viciously punched her has been jailed for 18 months.

Shane Lewis told police he had been defending himself but Judge Kristina Montgomery QC described him as "impulsive, selfish and in this case self-righteous."

She said it was clear the 24-year-old delivered three hard blows to Rachel Pearson's face and she had to undergo surgery to have a metal plate attached to her shattered jaw to repair the damage.

Miss Pearson had gone to Lewis' family home in Clarence Street, Dudley, but when she went to leave, he tried to stop her.

He had been drinking heavily, they argued and as she got to the front door his behaviour escalated into violence, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

The judge said Lewis had told the jury during his trial she had picked up a knife and tried to stab him, adding: "She was accused of lying about the incident but I saw her genuine distress when she was accused of being the aggressor."

Miss Pearson suffered an injury that had greatly affected her life, said the judge.

"She cannot open her mouth fully, there is continuing numbness and she has difficulty in eating because her chewing mechanism had been damaged.

"What you did has badly knocked her confidence and her life is far less enjoyable as a result," she told Lewis, who had used his fists with "such force" against her head.

The pair had been in a "volatile domestic relationship" and Lewis had an unattractive history of offending - a record that demonstrated he was not "prepared to live a life where he respected others."

Lewis had denied wounding but he was found guilty by a jury after they retired to consider the evidence at the end of his trial.

He was jailed for 14 months for the offence and for a further four months because it breached a suspended prison sentence imposed for possessing a knife.

Fiona McAddy, defending, told the court the offence had been committed by Lewis when he was heavily in drink.