Man who knocked out woman with claw hammer jailed

Aiden Bernes admitted to the attempted murder of the woman

A man verbally abused a woman, strangled, gagged and suffocated her before hitting his victim with a claw hammer, prosecutors have said.

The woman had only known Aiden Bernes a few weeks and he had effectively moved into her home and taken control of it, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

Bernes, 46, received a 22 year jail sentence from Preston Crown Court on Friday after admitting the attempted murder of the 51-year-old woman in Preston.

Paul Robinson, senior crown prosecutor, said: "Aiden Bernes is an extremely violent man who carried out a sustained attack on a woman within her own home."

'Heavily blood-stained'

Det Sgt Sam Bartley, of Lancashire Police, said: "He is clearly a very violent and dangerous man and I hope the fact that he is now behind bars for a substantial period of time will give the victim some sense that justice has been done."

The CPS said the woman went to a Chinese takeaway at about 22:45 GMT on 11 December calling for help.

Her clothes were heavily blood-stained, she had a loop of heavy tape around her neck and was struggling to breath.

She was able to give a brief outline to police and identified her attacker as Bernes.

The woman told police she met him on a night out and invited him back to her house.

"From then, he effectively moved in and took control of her home," the CPS said.

His attack lasted an estimated 30 minutes and when she regained consciousness, she found she was in her living room alone.

Knowing Bernes had her house keys, she fled the house by climbing out through a window and went for help to the nearby takeaway.

He was arrested shortly after 23:00 at her house, where there was evidence of a violent assault and the claw hammer he had used to attack her was seized.

Bernes made no comment in a police interview but admitted attempted murder on 14 March.

On his release he will serve a five-year extended licence period.