JEALOUS Adrian Rickett brutally attacked his girlfriend, inflicting a broken nose and two black eyes, and threatened her with a knife.

Today, the 43-year-old, now of Purley Road in Cirencester, was found guilty of assaulting 47-year-old Rachel Slee at their Coleford home on December 21, 2013.

During a trial at Cheltenham Magistrates' Court, Rickett was said to be jealous of the attention Miss Slee was receiving at work from other men.

Miss Slee told the court: “He was ranting about me sleeping with lots of people. That’s when he started punching me.

“The first punch, I felt my nose break. He picked a knife up and said ‘I might as well finish the job off’. He held it to my face.”

Miss Slee said Rickett also punched her again upstairs in the bathroom and strangled her to the point where she could not breathe.

She said she managed to call the police after sneaking her phone upstairs to the bathroom.

But Rickett told the court he was acting in self defence. He said he had woken up in the night to find Miss Slee – who admitted she had previously had an alcohol problem - drinking vodka downstairs.

When he went to take the bottle from her she tried to hit him on the head with it but he batted it away and it smashed against her nose, he claimed.

He said he then saw Miss Slee grab what he believed was a knife, adding: “I slapped her as hard as I could. Given what had happened a second ago I was not about to be stabbed.”

Defending Rickett, Dermot Clerk said he believed the injuries on Miss Slee’s face did not match with her description of the attack.

But the magistrates found Rickett guilty of assault.

He was released on bail on the condition he does not contact Miss Slee, and will return to the same court on April 10 to be sentenced.