ANTHONY Canning (41) of Windermere Avenue, Clinkham Wood, has been jailed for four years after pleading guilty at Liverpool Crown Court to wounding his live-in girlfriend.

The court heard that Canning had subjected the woman, who is the mother of his eight-year-old son, to what the police described as one of the worst cases of domestic violence they had ever seen.

She had been systematically beaten from December 12 to 18 last year when she was discovered by a school visitor who had called round to find out why the couple's son was not in school. She was taken to hospital where it was discovered that she had sustained serious head injuries and severe bruising to her entire body.

WDC Heather Dale of the St Helens Domestic Violence Unit told the Star: "This is the worst case of prolonged violence against a woman that I have ever seen and the length of the sentence, which is just one year short of the maximum for this offence, reflects the severity of the injuries inflicted. Fortunately, the woman has now been re-housed and is trying to re-build her life again following this ordeal."

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