A MAN WHO stabbed, burned, and beat his then partner, in a “vicious” and “unprovoked attack” at her flat has been jailed for nine and half years, with the final two years suspended.

When gardaí called to the flat in Limerick city they discovered a “bloodbath”, Judge Tom O’Donnell told Limerick Circuit Court.

Gardaí discovered the victim, Simone Lee (39), semi-naked, unconscious, burned, and stabbed.

Due to the extent of her injuries gardaí initially believed Lee had been doused in acid by her then-boyfriend Colin Ryan (30).

“It was an appalling, brutal and savage attack,” the judge said.

“No human, let alone a defenceless woman, should be subjected to such a vicious, savage, and cowardly attack as was meted out to the victim,” the judge added.

Ryan, of St Ita’s Street, St Mary’s Park, Limerick, pleaded guilty to intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to Lee, on 27 November 2016.