A JEALOUS Poole man who left his young children home alone after their terrified mother fled from his violence has been jailed for two years.

The 24-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted 10 assault charges and two counts of child cruelty spanning a six-month period from August last year.

Prosecuting at Bournemouth Crown Court, Clifford Grier said the seven-month-old and 18-month-old children had been briefly abandoned on February 22 after their mother had been “whipped” with a metal cable and sought sanctuary at a friend’s home.

Before she left, he warned her: “You’d better be back in 10 minutes or I will leave the kids on their own.”

Mr Grier added: “When her friend saw her bruises, she contacted the police. By the time officers arrived at the flat her partner had left, abandoning the two children.”

The incident was the culmination of a number of assaults on the woman, involving various weapons, including a metal bar, as well as punching, kicking and “a strangulation hold” when she was seven months pregnant.

One one occasion her partner told her: “I wish you’d just die; I could so easily do it.”

Following his arrest, just minutes after he had left the children home alone, the man told police: “It’s just rage; I get so angry. It isn’t me. I need help.”

In his defence, the court heard that he had entered early guilty pleas and had never been in trouble with the police before. “Tortured by jealousy”, he was now remorseful for his actions. Leaving the children was described as “a momentary lapse”.

His Hon Christopher Leigh QC, sitting as a deputy circuit judge, imposed a restraining order banning any contact between the man and his former partner.

He added: “There are very serious aggravating features. You used weapons. Some of the assaults were committed in front of the children and when your partner was pregnant.

“You have described her as ‘shy, quiet and sweet;’ your conduct reduced her to considering suicide.”