An expectant father has been jailed for slashing his seven-months pregnant girlfriend and threatening to kill her and her family.
John Crane became violent after a night's drinking and attacked partner Carol Lucas after getting up in the middle of the night to go fishing.
He subjected her to a prolonged ordeal which started with him slashing her leg with a knife. He then went to the loft of their home in Holsworthy and fetched a bigger knife and told her he was going to kill her.
He picked up an air rifle, aimed it at her and pulled the trigger but nothing happened because it was not loaded, Exeter Crown Court was told.
Mechanic Crane, aged 24, of North Road, Holsworthy, admitted wounding and making threats to kill and was jailed for 16 months by Judge Francis Gilbert, QC.
The Judge told him:"Your partner escaped from the house with a four centimetre gash on her leg and you then trashed the flat. This was an offence of higher culpability because of the use of the weapon."
Mr David Bowen, prosecuting, said the couple had been out on the night before the attack and Crane had been drinking while the heavily pregnant victim was not.
He said:"In the early hours he decided to go fishing and produced a knife and started to wave it. The victim was frightened and suffered a four inch injury when she was slashed on her leg.
"He went to the loft to find a larger knife and threatened to kill her and the rest of her family. He grabbed an air rifle and shot it without a pellet.
"The victim ran and locked herself in the bathroom and he tried to enter by stabbing a knife through the door."
Mr Bowen said the woman escaped and took refuge with neighbours and called the police. When she returned home she found items bought for the new baby had been slashed or vandalised.
Miss Emily Cook, defending, said Crane had no record of domestic violence but felt under stress because of the impending birth of his first child.
She said:"He is deeply apologetic. He cannot explain what he did other than he was in debt and panicking about his upcoming fatherhood. It was completely out of character."
