Stephen Rice 57

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A convicted gangland killer and rapist smashed a can of lager into his girlfriend's face because she didn't want to drink.

Stephen Rice, who has served prison sentences for an underworld shooting manslaughter in Newcastle city centre, wounding with intent and rape, had been released on licence when he attacked his partner. A court heard she lived in the flat above his in Gateshead and they had begun a relationship after growing close when she initially went round to complain about noise.

In April last year she was at home and could hear him downstairs in his flat smashing things up. He then went to her flat at 7am with a badly injured finger which was bleeding. She wrapped a towel around it and offered to call an ambulance but he refused.

Alec Burns, prosecuting, told Newcastle Crown Court: "He had brought four cans of lager with him and he started accusing her of seeing other men. She swore she had not and got upset. Because she would not drink, he smashed a full can of lager in her face. He then got upset and said 'look what you've made me do' and began to cry."

When interviewed by police, Rice, 55, of Redheugh Court, Gateshead, claimed she had hit herself with the can but he later went on to plead guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Jailing him for 14 months, Recorder Carl Gumsley said: "This was a nasty offence against somebody you were professing to have a meaningful and, one assumes, loving relationship and it happened in her home.

"You have an appalling and most troubling record - you have convictions for some of the most serious offences of violence."

Ian Brook, defending, said: "There was disharmony borne out of his jealousy. There's some remorse expressed in the report.

"He met her as she had complained about the racket in is flat and they entered a relationship which was somewhat volatile. He was a career criminal. She was aware of the manslaughter conviction and the rapes. He was required to disclose to anyone he wanted to have a relationship with that he had those convictions.

"The complainant and defendant were kindred spirits. They both had mental health issues and drank to excess and had drug issues. He was released for the rape convictions in June 2018 and he says he turned a corner."

Rice was convicted of manslaughter and jailed for eight years after he shot dead a rival during a gunfight in a crowded Bigg Market bar only days before Christmas in 1995. That involved a shoot-out in Maceys bar, where Rice was already carrying a pistol when rival Frankie Kelly, 28, opened fire as revellers tried to take cover. Rice pulled his own gun from his waistband, pulled the trigger and shot Mr Kelly in the chest.

He was back inside for six-and-a-half years in 2006 for his part in a conspiracy to spread cocaine through the city.

In 2011 he was jailed for 11 years for a sustained attack on a mother in her own Newcastle home. He struck the victim from behind with a weightlifting bar. Rice then landed more blows before raping her.