HARROWING details of a horrific bath drowning attack in Worcester can now be revealed as the attempted murderer told a jury he believed his actions took 'courage' and that he had been 'dunked a lot worse'.

Richard Evans was jailed for 14 years for attempted murder after he tried to drown his former partner, Jane Webster, in the bath of the home they then shared in Ronkswood Hill, an assault the sentencing judge called 'terrifying'.

But in bizarre comments to the jury, the defendant said he believed his actions took 'courage'. At one stage during the five day trial he even began singing.

Describing the attack, Evans said: "There was no turning back from that point in time. That was actually a big step for me. I want to use the word courage. I hadn't had the courage to push Jane away before." He told a jury: "It was the first time in six years I was in control."

When asked by Nick Berry why he did not intend to kill Mrs Webster, Evans replied: "Because I love her."

He even told the jury under cross-examination from prosecutor Jennifer Josephs: "I've been dunked a lot worse. I'm sorry if I appear to be laughing."

As previously reported, the 48-year-old must serve at least two thirds of the 14 years behind bars following the sentence, handed out by one of city's most senior judges, Judge Nicolas Cartwright.

We can now reveal that the defendant by his own admission consumed at least six cans and 'maybe seven' of Carling lager at his home before he went to the Gun Tavern where he drunk more pints.

Mrs Webster later arrived at the pub but did not leave when Evans did which had left him feeling 'annoyed'. It was when she returned home that Evans began the attack in the bath, holding her head under water.

Evans said his mood that day could best be described as 'unpredictable' but he denied at the trial that he called his partner 'a dog' when they were at the pub but accepted he made a 'sarcastic comment' about her smoking 'posh cigarettes'.

Before the attack she asked him if they were having a bath and he told her: "Not me, you!"

Before he ducked her head under the water, he told her 'get ready!', holding her head under three times for around 10 seconds each time as he told her 'you're going to die!' and 'it's a shame it's come to this."

Evans was interrupted during the attack by the victim's friend, Debbie Heason, who came to the address after reports of the couple's dog running about in the street.

But Evans denied her arrival was what prevented him from killing Mrs Webster, telling the jury: "I had finished what I was doing. I didn't feel angry anymore."

He also said he went to get Mrs Webster a towel. Evans was arrested the following day in a lay-by on the Stratford Road near the March Hare near Worcester but claimed he had already made up his mind to hand himself in 'because I needed to answer for attempted murder which it never was'.

He said he was thinking at the time: "Oh my God, I have hurt Jane."

Judge Cartwright described the attack as a 'spontaneous attempt to kill'. The judge is bound by sentencing guidelines and could only impose a sentence of between nine and 17 years in prison.

The starting point within these guidelines was 12 years. As previously reported, the judge went beyond this starting point, imposing a sentence of 14 years. Evans must serve at least two thirds of the sentence in prison.

This higher sentence reflected the judge's views on the aggravating features of the case, including that Jane Wesbter was particularly vulnerable at the time and that the attack took place and that it happened in the context of domestic violence. He also said that, as a woman of middle years, Mrs Webster was 'nowhere near as strong as you - 6ft 3ins and 16 and a half stone'. The victim had described herself as 5ft tall to the jury.

"She was totally at your mercy and therefore particularly vulnerable" the judge told him. The judge also said it was an aggravating feature that Evans had previously attacked another woman, his wife, and also had attacked Mrs Webster on a previous occasion, pushing her into a hedge.

Summing up the mitigating factors, the judge said: "I accept you were depressed at the time and you were suffering from a depressive episode on this particular night."