A YOUNG mum has got revenge on her ex-boyfriend who brutally beat her while their toddler watched in horror – by getting him jailed.

Jesse Fleischer escaped a jail sentence for the attack on Gemma Jarman after conning a judge with a forged reference from his employer.

But today he is behind bars after Miss Jarman did some detective work of her own, having read the report in the Daily Echo.

She discovered the glowing reference was a fake, which his employer had neither written nor signed.

Now after five months of hell, living in fear of what he might do next, the 24-year-old is relieved that the “monster” is finally locked up.

Fleischer, 26, had pleaded guilty at Winchester Crown Court in May to causing actual bodily harm to his girlfriend and possessing cannabis with intent to supply.

The court heard how the hotel worker had lost his temper with the nurse, who works at Southampton General Hospital, and after throwing her on the sofa punched her repeatedly.

But on the strength of the forged reference claiming to be from his boss at Marwell Hotel the judge handed him suspended sentences totalling 12 months with two years supervision.

Shocked and angered by the lenient sentence Miss Jarman got police to launch an investigation and it soon became apparent the reference was forged.

She said: “It was a terrifying attack and one which he subjected me to in front of our daughter, who was just 22 months old.

“He just completely lost it when I told him I wanted to end our relationship.

“He fractured my cheekbone, broke a tooth and terrified my daughter and me. She still has nightmares every night because of him.

“I just couldn’t believe it when I heard he had initially received a suspended sentence. We have been living in fear ever since, looking over our shoulders, fearing what he might do next.

“I just couldn’t let him get away with it.”

Charged with perverting the course of justice, Fleischer, of Thompsons Lane, Winchester, stood before the same judge, Recorder Michael Parroy QC.

Fleischer pleaded guilty and this time the judge sentenced him to 28 months in prison, adding that had it not been for the letter, he would have given him a jail term originally.

After the verdict Miss Jarman, who dated Fleischer for four years, said: “I don’t think it is enough but I am just relieved he is finally behind bars.

“I can live my life now. I have been living in fear for the last five months.

“I couldn’t leave my house for two months I was so in fear of him.”