A scaffolder who had been arrested for a violent, drunken attack on his partner went over the wall at the police station.

Steven Beeton escaped from the exercise yard by shimmying up between two walls like a climber scaling chimney in a rock face.

Despite detention officers shouting for him to come back he got on to the roof only to be detained in the car park the moment he landed on the other side.

Now the 32-year-old, who was on a suspended sentence for putting a knife to the throat of the mother of his two children, has been jailed for 44 weeks.

At an earlier hearing Colin Meeke, prosecuting, told Swindon Crown Court that Beeton turned into a 'monster' when he was drinking and smoking cannabis.

On the morning of Monday January 15 he had turned up drunk at his partner's home when she was out and was abusive when she got back.

He left before the police could arrive and later in the day he sent the woman a series of threatening texts.

In the evening he was banging on the door and as she was on the phone to the police shouted 'If you don't let me in in the next ten seconds I am going to kick the door in'.

Again he fled but just after midnight the victim received a call from a friend saying he had been drinking and lost his temper and was coming to hers.

She then received texts where Beeton threatened to 'kill her' and 'burn her' and shortly before 2am he was banging on the door so hard the house vibrated.

After smashing his way in he got upstairs where he pushed past her mum, who had come to support her, and shoved his partner over.

She later told police he had completed a building better relationships programme after the previous incident and had been off the drink until then.

At an earlier hearing Mr Meeke said "She says variously in her statements that by and large he is a decent man but when he drinks and smokes cannabis he turns in to a bit of a monster."

He said he was being detained at Gablecross police station when he went over the wall in the exercise yard, but was detained on landing outside and brought back in.

Beeton, of Nyland Road, Nythe, admitted sending a malicious communication, criminal damage, assault by beating and attempted escape.

Ellen McAnaw, defending, said that her client had abstained from drinking for a year before the latest offences.

As well as the domestic violence programme he had also complete an alcohol treatment requirement but had slipped back to drinking,

She said that the victim says she is not scared of him but would like a restraining order to prevent him coming to the house.

Referring to the escape bid she said "The officers remarked that they had never seen anyone do that before so perhaps it led to changes in that yard so it doesn't happen again."

Jailing him, an imposing a two year restraining order, Recorder Ed Burgess QC said "When you drink you become incredibly violent. The text messages you sent to her that day were quite appalling."