A man who whacked his partner with a frying pan 20 times following a trivial argument over a text message has been jailed for six years.

Hugh Nelson, 53, was enraged after his 35-year-old partner sent a text to someone in the middle of the night at her home in Poplar.

He grabbed a ceramic pan and struck her with full force, then hit her on the head and stamping on her legs and ankles, demanding to know who she had been texting.

He left the house after the attack on May 12, but was arrested the next day.

“Nelson behaved savagely towards his partner for many years,” Det Sgt Robert Brown said. “He exhibited many signs of a highly successful life while hiding a violent and controlling character.”

Nelson, from Hornsey in north London, was found guilty at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Monday of GBH and two earlier attacks in November.