A man has been jailed for punching a woman 38 times in the face in a "wicked" attack that a police officer said was "one of the most violent sustained attacks I have ever seen".

Mark Caffrey, 57, pinned Susan Taylor to the ground and viciously attacked her outside his house in Lon Glanyrafon, Newtown on April 12 knowing it was all caught on his doorbell camera.

Recorder Simon Mills sentenced Caffrey to 20 months in prison for the "truly dreadful" attack which left Ms Taylor with serious injuries and fearing she would be killed.

"I've never been so terrified in my life," Ms Taylor told the court. "I believed I was going to die."

Swansea Crown Court heard that on April 11 the pair had been drinking, chatting and listening to music at Caffrey's house before Ms Taylor was told to leave following an argument about something she had said about Caffrey's dad.

The following day, Ms Taylor, who had been drinking, returned to Caffrey's house to ask for her phone back to which he refused because he was still angry about what was said about his dad.

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Prosecution barrister Harry Dickens said: "There was rage in the defendant's face, his eyes wide and looked wild."

Caffrey then told his victim "I hope you get what you f***ing deserve" before her pinning her to the ground and punched her 38 times to the head and face.

Caffrey, who appeared in court on a video link from HMP Swansea, closed his eyes while the doorbell footage of the brutal attack was shown in court.

Ms Taylor was heard crying out "Don't f***ing touch me, get off me" then Caffrey growled "Do you want some more?" before continuing the attack.

He added: "I know it's all on video camera."

Ms Taylor cried: "I never hurt you. I wanted to be there for you. Why did you do this? Too many people hurt me."

County Times: The attack happened in Lon Glanyrafon, Newtown.

The court was told that "hysterical" Ms Taylor, who was beaten up and bleeding, then ran away as fast as she could before begging her neighbour to call the police.

Six foot two Caffrey was later arrested and told police that it was five-foot four Ms Taylor who had attacked him and he'd hit her in self-defence because he was "terrified and scared senseless she would kill him".

He said: "I didn't know a woman could hit that hard." Caffrey said he wasn't influenced by alcohol, but he did admit drinking two cans.

The police officer leading the case said it was "one of the most violent sustained attacks I have ever seen".

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The court was told that Caffrey has 19 convictions for 55 offences, three of which are for ABH including a 12-month sentence in 1995.

Caffrey's defence barrister told the court that the 57-year-old "unusually has a significant gap" of 13 years since his last previous offence.

"There is some disagreement that causes a significant reaction between the two parties in relation to the defendant's father," he told the court.

"It is evident that this defendant's main source of support since he was a child was his father and reading between the lines of the pre-sentence report that the defendant has difficulty regulating his emotions and confronting any sort of relationship with any acrimony referencing family members he cherishes, and this is what happened on this occasion."

Sentencing Caffrey, of Lon Glanyrafon, Newtown to 20 months in prison and imposing a 10-year restraining order, Recorder Mills said it was a "very serious assault".

"She’d clearly been drinking. She said something which upset you and what you could have done is walk away from the situation. Whatever was going on you frankly went off the scale with your violent assault on her.

"She was expressing pain, fear and discomfort. You said vile things to her as you did this, and your behaviour was wicked, violent.

"What you did to Susan Turner was truly dreadful."