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A drunken chef attacked his partner when she poured the dregs of a bottle of wine over him as lay asleep on a sofa.

Trained kitchen worker Lee Baxter then threatened to smash the house up with a hammer after the woman fled in fear. Leeds Crown Court heard that the couple had been in an “on/off” relationship for around three years due to Baxter’s volatile ways while drunk.

Prosecutor John Hobley said on October 2 last year the woman had returned to her home in Woodlesford to find Baxter had been drinking, so she chose to sleep in the spare room, but he pestered her to join him in the main bedroom and she relented.

Baxter lashed out at his partner when she poured the dregs of a bottle of wine over him as he was drunk and asleep at midday. (pics by National World)

When she got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, he followed her, grabbed by the throat and squeezed. Then two days later, she returned home at midday and found him asleep on the sofa, again in drink.

She poured the remnants of the win over him and he quickly woke up and the pair began arguing. She told him he needed to move out and she then left and sat in her car to defuse the situation. She then returned a short time later but the argument “reignited”, Mr Hobley said.

Baxter told the woman: “If it’s ending, I will go for you.” He then grabbed her, pinned her against the sofa and punched her three times to the head. She was able to kick him away and ran out to her car. He tried to block her driving away but she eventually escaped and contacted the police.

Baxter told a neighbour he wanted a hammer to smash the property up. He was arrested and gave a largely no-comment interview. The court heard that Baxter was jailed for 20 weeks in December last year for an offence of stalking against the woman.

Baxter, of Deer Hill Drive, Marsden, Huddersfield, admitted a charge of ABH for the attack, and appeared in court from HMP Leeds. In a victim impact statement, the woman said she required months off work, still struggles to sleep and receives counselling.

Mitigating, Amber Walker said there was an “overwhelming determination” to improve himself. She said: “He is emphatic that has begun the process of change. He has a renewed outlook of the offence that he perhaps did not have in December last year when he spoke to probation.”

The judge, Recorder Ian Mullarkey jailed Baxter for 10 months and gave him a 10-year restraining order to keep him away from the woman.

Drunken chef jailed after punching Leeds partner when she poured wine over him