A VICIOUS domestic abuser is facing jail after a string of violent attacks on his partner and her daughter.

Michael Beattie rained blow after blow on his victim’s skull during a drunken argument after a day of drinking.

The 47-year-old launched the shocking assault on his partner of two-and-a-half years in her Castlepark home on June 8 this year.

Kilmarnock Sheriff Court heard Beattie punched his victim so hard she tried to shield her eyes but he continued to pummel her cheek and chin with punches.

Fiscal Depute Kirsty Urquhart said: “On June 8, the complainer and the accused were having a drink together in a pub in Irvine and had been drinking for some time.

“The complainer went to a friends house near the pub then later returned and was told the accused had left with a female. She returned home just after 1am and the accused returned just after that. An argument developed in relation to the leaving of the pub.

“The accused punched the victim repeatedly to the top of her head. She turned her face to avoid getting a black eye and he punched her left cheek and her chin.

“During the assault he was repeatedly accusing her of cheating on him. She reported the incident the next day and her daughter persuaded her to go to police. She suffered bruising to her face as a result.”

The court heard Beattie had struck before, earlier in the year when he not only assaulted his partner but also attacked her daughter with a metal pot.

The vicious thug hammered blows on to the the daughter’s head after she tried to calm him down following an argument with her mother, on March 18.

Just over a week later on March 26 the court heard Beattie lashed out again after his dogs began fighting with his partner’s daughter’s dogs.

Ms Urquhart said: “As everyone was trying to separate the dogs the daughter and the accused began arguing. This had started upstairs but continued into the kitchen. Whilst in the kitchen the accused picked up a metal pot from the kitchen worktop and swung it and struck his partner’s daughter on the head with it. The handle fell off the pot as a result. The victim left the house and called police.”

Representing Beattie, Graeme Cunningham said his client was aware he was facing jail, adding: “When we spoke about it yesterday we were talking about how long, not what if.”

Sheriff Alistair Watson told him: “These are serious matters but made much more serious by the fact that it’s one event after another, after another and also your record.

“It seems the outcome is going to be a custodial sentence. Given your record and the previous eight domestic abuse cases I need to have a meaningful risk assessment in relation to you.

“Realistically the most obvious outcome will be a custodial sentence.”

“I want to find out the attitudes of the victims on your behaviour.”