'Violent' boyfriend locked up.

A MAN who poked his exgirlfriend in the eye, bit her nose and then stabbed her in the leg has been jailed for four and a half years.

Recorder Roger Evans told James Green he had to pass a sentence for the protection of the public because there was a risk he could cause serious harm.

"These injuries were horrific but, not as it happens, life-threatening," he told Green, 24, of Davison Road, Smethwick, at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

Wendy Miller, prosecuting, said Green was already on licence for attacking Donna Bullock, and had been sentenced to seven years for wounding with intent when he was a juvenile.

One night he poked his former partner in the eyes, nose and mouth.

Ms Bullock was upset and went to a neighbour's. When she returned home, Green bit her on the nose and she then barricaded herself into a bedroom.

But Green forced his way into the room and, in a third disturbance, he took a knife and stabbed her in the left leg as he shouted, "You have two choices - stay with me or I will kill you."

Carol Knotts, defending, said Green accepted it was a "nasty" incident and he realised he had behaved badly on the night in question.

Green admitted two charges of assault causing actual bodily harm.