A strict Muslim father who had been previously jailed for raping a schoolgirl attacked his daughter and her secret boyfriend with a hammer after he found them having sex.

Soruth Ali attacked the pair after he heard noises coming from a bedroom his house on 21 August and has now been jailed for 14 months after he admitted actual bodily harm and common assault.

The 42-year-old's daughter is in police protection after the incident and has now been placed in care to keep her away from her "very religious and very controlling" father.

It emerged, after he was sentenced at Bolton Crown Court, that Ali had served seven years for the 1995 rape of a 15-year-old girl when she was in her school uniform.

The court heard that Ali was woken up at 5am by noises coming from the bedroom and opened the door to find her and lover James Martin in bed together.

The restaurant manager grabbed a hammer and hit Martin over the head then punched and kicked his daughter Fathema before dragging her out of her bedroom by the hair ignoring pleas from her family to stop.

The attack, which took place in Leigh, Greater Manchester, left Martin with a deep gash to his head which required two staples.

Fathema's head and face were badly bruised and in a statement, she said that her father, a married father-of-four, hit her on the left arm, knocked her to the floor and began to kick her to the head and legs.

In a statement to police, Fathema claimed she was forced into living two lives, one for her strict Islamic father at home and another outside the house.

The court heard that on the night of the incident Fathema sneaked in Martin thinking her parents were away, but when they returned he hid in her bedroom for the night.

The Daily Mail reported that Ali was said by probation officers to have shown a "lack of remorse and empathy"' although he contested this.

In mitigation, his solicitor Isobel Thomas, said Ali misses his family and is sorry for his behaviour.

Passing sentence Judge Timothy Clayson told Ali: "You could have killed Mr Marion and it is through no design of your own that you did not. It is incredibly fortunate that he wasn't seriously injured."

Ali was banned from contacting his daughter for three years under the terms of a restraining order.