A VIOLENT man who headbutted a woman holding a child and smashed another partner's head repeatedly against a skirting board has been jailed for more than three years.

Samuel Spencer Cairns was sentenced yesterday for the "serious serial offending against women" at Bradford Crown Court.

The 29-year-old was in breach of court orders warning him to keep him away from his two victims and appeared in court from custody to be sentenced.

He had admitted two offences of common assault against one woman and two counts of causing another woman actual bodily harm.

Spencer Cairns, of Daniel Close, Keighley, hit a partner with the blunt end of a kitchen knife on Christmas Eve, 2013.

He then grabbed hold of her and held the weapon to her throat, returning to her home later to smash a window with a metal bar.

He was given a chance by Bradford and Keighley magistrates who sentenced him to a community order on March 3 last year. A restraining order was made banning Spencer Cairns from contacting his victim.

Less than a month later, he headbutted her in his flat while she was holding a child, the court heard.

That time, magistrates sentenced him to a suspended term of imprisonment.

On January 3, he hit his new partner, a woman aged 30, with a bottle and punched her in the face when she was pregnant with their child.

She did not want any legal action taking against Spencer Cairns at that time but called the police when he again attacked her, on January 24.

The court heard he went to her home in breach of a Domestic Violence Protection Order, barring him from having any contact with her.

She let him in and when they argued, he smashed her head repeatedly against the skirting board and put his hands round her throat in a "sustained assault."

The court heard the victim was a vulnerable recovering alcoholic only five feet tall.

She was now seeking professional help after suffering panic attacks and fear that Spencer Cairns might come back to her home.

The court heard that although he had been in trouble at the magistrates court, Spencer Cairns had never before served a term of imprisonment.

Judge Mark Savill said Spencer Cairns had repeatedly ignored court warnings to keep away from the women. He jailed him for three years and five months.