A cocaine addict craved his next fix so much that he attacked his lover for cash — before stabbing a man and taking drugs.

Drunken Jonathon Dowling, 27, repeatedly hit his lover Nichola Beard around the head while demanding money on Monday, February 18.

Maidstone Crown Court heard the hysterical victim, who was left with bruises and a burst blood vessel in one eye, called her father for help after the attack, which left her bleeding.

Dowling, of Northfleet, initially asked: "What have I done to my beautiful girl?"

He then drove her car without insurance to a member of her family's house.

Prosecutor Simon Shannon said that Ms Beard's family came to her aid and closed the door on Dowling — who, fearing the police, drove away.

He then went to the home of Anthony Adams in Gravesend armed with a kitchen knife and stabbed him six times before taking wraps of cocaine.

He then bizarrely turned to his seriously injured victim and told him: "I am sorry to do this to you, Tony, you're a good bloke."

Mr Andrews was taken to hospital but his stomach wound worsened and he needed immediate surgery and wasn't released for eight days.

Dowling, of Springhead Road, was arrested by police who had tracked him through his phone to Belvedere Close, Gravesend, where he was found still carrying blood-soaked cocaine wraps.

He looked shocked as Judge Philip St John Stevens told him he posed a future threat and gave him an extended 14-year sentence.

Dowling, who was initially charged with attempted murder but admitted wounding with intent, taking a car without consent and assault occasioning actual bodily harm, was told he will go to prison for 11 years and must serve an extra three on licence after his release.

He told him: "You say you were under pressure from a drug dealer and you went around there to sort it out.

"There was some sort of dispute over the drug debt and you say you took the knife as protection but you used it."

He had told police he had "taken the drugs in anger and had been an idiot", the court heard.

Mark Dacey, defending said Dowling was "shocked and devastated he was capable of doing this."

Detective Sergeant Mike Champion, the senior investigating officer for the case, commenting on the sentencing, said: "Dowling has shown himself to be an extremely dangerous individual who is prepared to use violence and intimidation to get what he wants.

"There can be no tolerance for such offending and I am pleased the court has enforced a strong custodial sentence that means he is no longer a threat to the public."

Read more: All the latest news from Gravesend

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