A thug who left his ex-girlfriend needing 40 stitches after slashing her across the face with a Stanley knife has been jailed for 21 years.

Carlington Francis, 39, had been told to stay away from the 36-year-old London Metropolitan University student after he had repeatedly abused her while they were together.

But one evening in March she was getting into a taxi after leaving the Holloway Road campus when he opened the door and launched a brutal knife attack.

He then grabbed her handbag and ran off towards the Emirates Stadium, before dumping the bag in the street.

The victim was said to have stumbled into the university’s Hornsey Road library covered in blood. She suffered two deep cuts to both cheeks and a deep wound on her hand from trying to defend herself, which caused tendon and nerve damage.

The cuts to her face and arms left her needing 40 stitches.

Francis, of Balliol Road, Tottenham, was arrested at Heathrow Airport the next day trying to flee the country with £3,000 in cash.

He was jailed for to 21 years’ imprisonment at Blackfriars Crown Court on Friday after being found guilty of GBH with intent and breaching a non molestation order.

Det Con Pritpal Bhabra, the officer in the case for Islington CSU, said: “I would firstly like to commend the courage and dignity of the victim, who has been through a dreadful ordeal. This attack was brutal and unprovoked and the victim suffered terrible injuries as result.

“Francis has shown no remorse for his violent actions and the long prison sentence is entirely justified. It sends a clear message that domestic abuse will not be tolerated and those who carry out such attacks will be held to account for their actions.”