A MAN was jailed for two years yesterday for terrorising a woman and was banned from having direct contact with her or her family for three years.

It was the second time Andrew Gourlay, 31, had been jailed for terrorising the woman at her home, in Barnard Castle, Teesside Crown Court was told.

On both occasions Gourlay, of Garburn Close, Newton Aycliffe, smashed his way in, trashed rooms, and had to be removed by police.

The woman fled but Gourlay barricaded himself inside the house.

Stewart Allison, prosecuting, said that he was armed with a knife and a piece of broken glass and that the rooms were left soaked with his blood.

The woman was badly affected by her experiences, which Gourlay blamed on his excessive drinking, said Mr Allison.

She later told police: "I felt humiliated and angry because of the state to which he had been reduced."

Graeme Gaston, mitigating, said that Gourlay was an intelligent and articulate man who had allowed alcohol to blight his life and that of others.

He said: "If he can control his drinking it's likely he can steer clear of his offending."

Judge Peter Armstrong told Gourlay: "It seems that the breakdown of your relationship has been caused in the main by your problems with alcohol.

"You recognise that you have that problem and that it is effectively your downfall. Until you come to terms you will be a risk to her and to yourself."

The judge ordered that the prison service should be given Gourlay's medical records, which showed that he had a history of self-harm.

Gourlay pleaded guilty to affray and criminal damage on October 22, and also to harassment a few days later.

He was jailed for two years including four months from a previous sentence of 18 months in November 2003 for identical offences.

He was also given a three-year restraining order.