A man who ate his girlfriend's burnt skin and terrorised her in scenes likened to a "horror movie" will spend at least 12 years in jail.
After years perpetrating abuse, the 42-year-old man, who was sentenced in Parramatta District Court this week, offered an explanation for his behaviour in 2012.
"I love you so much, this is why I'm so tough on you," the man told his then-girlfriend, according to facts tendered in court.
The man, who has not been named to protect the victim's identity, and his girlfriend had been together for more than a year when he held her face over a hot stove and struck her with a belt at his cousin's Sydney home.
He told his cousin's girlfriend to "guard the front door" when the victim tried to escape in the 2006 incident.
As the woman was later curled up in a ball in the bathroom, the man, who took the door handle off, turned up with his cousin in tow.
The fearful victim then felt she had no choice but to comply with the man's demands to kiss his cousin's penis, the facts state.
But worse was to come as the man used a searing hair straightener to burn the woman.
He then peeled off burnt skin from her arm and ate it while saying "mmmm".
"(The victim) was experiencing indescribable pain and was screaming out," the facts state.
"Her thoughts turned to her family and she began thinking that she may never see them again."
Afterwards in the bedroom, the man used a 15cm knife to draw a game of noughts and crosses on her back before sexually assaulting her with such a grip his fingers pierced her skin.
The victim, who remained at the home for two days without medical treatment, suffered black eyes, burns and bruising that left her only able to drink from a straw.
Over the next few years as the relationship continued, the woman was subjected to more abuse, including being terrorised by the man in his car in scenes reminiscent of a "horror movie", facts state.
In 2010, the woman was forced to run out into the street naked with her clothes bundled in her arms in a bid to escape her abusive partner.
In 2012 the man discovered his girlfriend had a domestic violence pamphlet and became so enraged he threw a steak knife at her.
He was sentenced to a maximum of 18 years but will be eligible for parole after 12 years.
Blacktown police officers Constable Genelle Warne and Detective Senior Constable Elyse Houldin, who helped the woman take action against her ex-boyfriend, have been awarded for their work on the horrific domestic violence case.
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