A man whose "sadistic" attacks left his child victim traumatised has been jailed.

Carlisle Crown Court heard that 32-year-old Philip Burns punched, kicked, and on occasions subjected his victim to strangulation, leaving the youngster bruised and traumatised.

Burns, of High Street, Annan, denied physically assaulting the pre-teen victim, causing actual bodily harm. But after a trial, a jury unanimously convicted him.

Jailing Burns today for three years, Judge Peter Hughes QC commented that the victim had been "routinely and gratuitously" assaulted. "You used violence for violence sake, and in that sense it was sadistic," said Judge Hughes.