A man who broke his girlfriend's ankle with a wooden rounders bat at their Herne Bay home has been jailed for more than two-and-a-half years.

William Harris, 45, admitted assaulting 43-year-old Linda Hopewell - and told detectives he had previously slapped her, grabbed hold of her throat and waved a kitchen knife in her face.

Police were called in January 2011 after Miss Hopewell had gone to Kent and Canterbury Hospital to have her broken ankle treated.

She later told investigating officers Harris had become angry when she told him she was moving out of their Charles Street home.

He picked up a wooden bat and hit Miss Hopewell across the ankle. She was in plaster for six weeks.

Harris went on the run for almost two years until being arrested in Whitstable last December, when his vehicle activated an ANPR camera in Canterbury.

Harris, now of Trench Road, Tonbridge, has been jailed for 32 months at Canterbury Crown Court.

DC Keith Rochford, from Kent Police, said: "This was a particularly violent assault, leaving the victim in hospital and very frightened.

"I am pleased with the sentence and the case shows that we will not give up on those we believe to be guilty of crime - especially those who have used violence against others."

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