A controlling man, who scarred an ex lover "from her eyebrow to her chin" by twisting a broken wine glass into her face has been jailed for three years.

Jealous John Varley was acquitted of wounding her deliberately but a jury convicted him of unlawful wounding.

Judge Adele Williams told him: "You were in drink and you lost your temper. You are jealous and controlling."

She said he couldn't come to terms with the fact the 20 year relationship was ending.

Maidstone Crown Court heard the victim was now in a new relationship.

She told the court she still suffers from nightmares and flashbacks and feared being seen in public, even though much of the scarring is no longer visible.

Hard-working father-of-two Varley had sobbed in the dock when an image of her scarred face was shown to the jury.

Varley, now of Pye Corner, Maidstone, attacked his victim in May 2017.

Prosecutor Tom Dunn told the jury the 58-year-old attacked his victim with a broken wine glass causing a substantial wound which required surgery.

He said the background was the woman had become unhappy in the relationship and would have left him, but for the children.

Mr Dunn added: “Although she cared for him, and would be the first to say that he was a good father to their children, their relationship with each other over the last five years had been particularly strained.

“She says Varley was capable of being controlling and possessive - and particularly prone to jealousy.

“This manifested itself in a number of ways including not wanting to let her go out on her own or overreacting if he thought she was looking at another man.”

He said on the evening of the attack the two had spent the afternoon in the White Horse pub in Rainham to celebrate a birthday.

At some point that afternoon the victim’s parents asked Varley if he minded whether she went to Tenerife with them for a week.

The jury heard the two then picked up wine glasses at the same time.

Mr Dunn told them: “Varley’s glass smashed, either because he smashed it into her glass or over her head.

"She does remember him hitting her over the head with the glass and then pushing her down with his left hand and holding her down with his body.

“He was holding the broken glass with his right hand and deliberately pushed the glass into her left eyebrow and then twisted the glass into her left cheek.

She was taken initially to Medway Maritime Hospital and treated for a ‘V’ or a ‘U’ shaped wound which has left her with permanent scarring.

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