THE drunken activities of a 22-year-old man caused mayhem in the part of Kidderminster where he lived, prosecutor Guy Spollon told Worcester Crown Court.

Police arrested Matthew Lavelle on several occasions for violence, threatening behaviour and damage. He had to be handcuffed, on one occasion strapped down, and he head-butted a door at the police station, breaking the glass panel.

Lavelle, of Park Street, Kidderminster, was jailed for three years and three months. A two-year anti-social behaviour order was made to come into force when he is released. Among other conditions, it will ban him from the town centre and the Unity and Watermill pubs.

In August last year, Lavelle attacked his hairdresser girlfriend, Laura Bentley, because she had failed to wake him in the morning. In his rage, he grabbed her by the hair and bullied her for an hour.

He punched her in the face and dropped a heavy weight on her fingers. He also tried to singe her hair with his lighter and threw her hairdressing equipment into the garden. The girl was now afraid to go out on her own, said Mr Spollon.

The girl was able to escape when her mother called and she ran to her car. Lavelle chased her and tried to break the door off its hinges and kicked in the panels. He also punched Mrs Bentley's mother.

Judge Michael Mott said the attack on Miss Bentley was "on the verge of sadistic".

In October, Lavelle was involved in a disturbance at the Unity pub. He and a friend returned with sticks but police stopped further trouble. Officers had to put Lavelle to the floor three times and then use an emergency restraint jacket before he could be arrested.

Police were called again in December after reports that Lavelle had damaged three cars parked near his home. He ran into his house and, armed with a meat cleaver, perched on a bedroom window ledge for two hours, threatening to commit suicide.

Miss Catherine Orchard, defending, said Lavelle was no longer with Miss Bentley but had a new girlfriend and they had a three-week-old baby.

Lavelle's abuse of alcohol, ecstasy and cocaine caused him to be aggressive but he was drug free after six months in prison on remand.