One of worst cases of domestic abuse discovered by police

A man who subjected his former partner to two decades of abuse has been jailed for 18 years.

On one occasion in 2002, Kenzar Arnold, 41, formerly of Bennetts Avenue in West Kingsdown, Sevenoaks, punched the woman so hard that doctors feared she would lose her eye.

The abuse continued even after they had separated, including in October 2014 when he deliberately ran her off the road and caused her to crash her car into a traffic island.

Arnold denied a number of offences including wounding with intent, grievous bodily harm and assault, but was convicted following a trial and sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court.

The court heard how Arnold regularly assaulted his victim throughout their relationship, which began in the early 1990s.

On one occasion he chased her with a crowbar and hit her across the arm with it.

On another he punched her after discovering she had ordered a children’s game from a newspaper supplement without asking him first.

The incident in which the victim almost lost her eye occurred in 2002 when Arnold returned home from a night out and punched her in the face while she lay in bed. He took her to hospital the following day and she was diagnosed with fractures to her eye socket.

She later required reconstructive surgery to repair the damage.

In 2010 Arnold put his hands around the woman’s throat following an argument and strangled her until she began to lose consciousness.