Man jailed for slashing ex-partner with knife

A violent thug who grabbed his ex-girlfriend by the hair and repeatedly punched her head before slashing her leg with a kitchen knife has been locked up for 18 months.

Gavin Nock lost his temper after accusing Holly Holmes of buying a new phone so she could contact other men and told her, “I’ll show you,” before storming off to his kitchen where he picked up a 13-inch bread knife, Ipswich Crown Court heard on Friday.

Nock, 30, who was on bail for two earlier assaults on Miss Holmes, made stabbing motions with the knife towards her chest and when she put her hands up to defend herself and tried to grab the blade it caught her left palm, said Godfried Duah, prosecuting.

Nock had then sliced the knife through her jeans causing a cut which needed to be stitched at hospital.

Nock, of Beacon Field, Felixstowe, admitted assaulting Miss Holmes causing her actual bodily harm in August and was jailed for 18 months.

His sentencing came on the same day as the launch of Suffolk’s White Ribbon Day to raise awareness of domestic abuse.

Sentencing him Judge Roderick Newton described him as an “angry young man”.

“You have a history of violent behaviour and at some stage you are going to have to get a grip and grow up,” said the judge.

He said Nock had previously assaulted Miss Holmes in April and May and had been on bail with a condition not to contact her at the time of the offence in August.

Mr Duah told the court Nock and Miss Holmes had met in 2008 and had a turbulent relationship.

On August 16 Miss Holmes had gone to Nock’s house to collect some of her belongings and while there he had lost his temper after accusing her of getting a new mobile phone so that she could contact other men.

He had then grabbed by the hair and pulled her backwards before repeatedly punching her in the head area and then leaving the room to arm himself with a kitchen knife.

Ian Duckworth for Nock said his client needed help to address issues in his life and he wouldn’t get this if he was sent to prison.