A burglar who broke into his ex-partner’s home left her with a broken eye socket and horrific facial injuries after hurling a kitchen stool in her face.

Ibrahim Jabri let himself into his ex-partner's house while she was out with friends and they all returned to find him sat in her kitchen. He threw the stool as the others wielded a spade to try to force him out of the back door.

He fled with cash and medication which he seized from her handbag and went on the run for five days before police issued a public appeal and he was traced.

She was left with a severe fracture to her eye socket which required intrusive surgery and caused massive bruising around her eyes.

She posted shocking images on Facebook alongside a post which revealed that she had been unable to return home because of the trauma of the attack, which she said had ‘turned her whole life upside down’.

Jabri, aged 31, formerly of Lymebourne Park, Sidmouth, but now of no fixed address, admitted burglary after an assault charge was dropped. He was spared an immediate jail sentence by Judge Stephen Climie at Exeter Crown Court.

He was ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work, and 40 days of rehabilitation activities as part of a three-year community order. He was banned from going to her home for three years by a restraining order.

The judge told Jabri that he was taking into account the fact that he had been in custody since January 20 this year, which is the equivalent of a 15-month jail sentence.

He said: “To put it shortly, you went berserk. I have seen the nature of the injuries. They may not have been intentional, but they happened.”

The judge also read out a letter which Jabri had written to him which said: “I would like to express my deepest regret and sincerest apologise for my actions in January. I would like to convey my true heartfelt apologies to Sophie.

“My regret is immense. I come from a decent and loving family and all my six brothers and sisters have been successful, which shows our responsible and hard working character.”

Mr Michael Brown, prosecuting, said Jabri had been in an on-off relationship which she had ended it because of his drug addiction and ordered him not to return to her home in Exeter.

She did not reply to a string of messages from him when she was out with friends on the night of January 15 this year. They all went back to her house and found him in the kitchen.

He tipped her handbag onto a kitchen counter and took a banknote and some prescribed drugs from it, some of which he took. There was then a fracas between him and her friends in which they hit him with a spade and he picked up a stool which he threw.

It struck her in the face causing a fracture of the orbital bone around her eye which required re-setting in a hospital operation.

Mr Simon Burns, defending, said Jabri had not intended to hurt anyone and has apologised for his behaviour. He said this was not an archetypal burglary and arose out of a misunderstanding of his relationship with Ms Hill and the confusion caused by his drug use.

He said: “He has turned over a completely new leaf in prison and is off heroin and methadone completely. Ms Hill needs to know how sorry he is for his terrible actions.