A VICIOUS thug beat his girlfriend so badly that doctors said it was as if she had been involved in a serious car crash.

Damien Baxendale — who was yesterday jailed for 10 years — punched and kicked defenceless Chelsea Hayes in the head, leaving her with a bleed on the brain, two fractured vertebrae, a fractured eye socket which had to be reconstructed by surgery, damaged neck ligaments, black eyes and lips so swollen she was unable to open her mouth.

When police, alerted by a concerned neighbour, arrived at Baxendale’s Deane flat in the early hours of August 3 last year, they found 23-year-old Miss Hayes unconscious on the bed, her clothing torn and her blood splattered around the rooms.

At Bolton Crown Court Baxendale was jailed for 10 years with a further four years on licence for the attack and a second violent assault on another girlfriend a year later.

Judge Peter Davies said: "They were savage, brutal, ferocious and frenzied assaults."

Rachel White, prosecuting, told the court that in the first assault, a neighbour had seen Baxendale outside his flat at 3am, kicking someone full in the face as if he was kicking a football.

When officers arrived Baxendale refused to let them into the flat, claiming Miss Hayes was asleep, but relented when they threatened to force their way in.

Miss White said: “Inside was covered with blood all over and it looked as if a struggle had taken place.

“Chelsea Hayes was severely injured, gagging and unconscious.”

Callous Baxendale claimed Miss Hayes had been drunk telling police it was "all her own fault” and claiming she had banged her head.

While Miss Hayes lay unconscious in a hospital bed he boasted to officers telling them: "When she wakes up she will verify everything I have said.”

The court heard that Miss Hayes spent 10 days in hospital and could not remember anything about that night.

Miss White told the court: "It is the kind of injury usually seen in road traffic collisions.”

Miss Hayes’ face was so badly swollen that her three-year-old daughter did not recognise her.

The attack left her with back pain, headaches, nausea, dizziness, poor memory and depression.

The court heard that 24-year-old Baxendale was granted bail in February this year, but on August 2 was arrested again after a violent street attack on another girlfriend.

At 5am a Deane resident looked out of his window to see a man and woman near a bus stop on Wigan Road.

The resident called police after seeing Baxendale kick the woman in the side and repeatedly punch her in the face.

At one point, after she had fallen to the floor, he dragged her across the road by her hair.

Her injuries included a fractured nose and bruised and swollen face.

Baxendale, of Briercliffe Road, Deane, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent and causing grievous bodily harm.

Colin Buckle, defending, said Baxendale was “truly ashamed and shocked” by his own behaviour.

“He knows he does not deserve the clemency of the court,” he said.

But Judge Davies told him that he regarded him as a dangerous offender who posed a serious risk to the public and he did not accept he was remorseful.

Judge Davies said: "You are contrite for yourself because you don’t want to face a long sentence.”

He added that CCTV footage of the second attack and photographs of the women’s injuries were an “appalling sight”.

Members of Miss Hayes' family cheered and applauded as Baxendale was sentenced.