A former Team GB Olympic cyclist attacked his girlfriend after suffering a brain injury which made him aggressive when drinking, a court heard.

Jonathan Bellis, 30, who represented the team at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, admitted hitting his girlfriend at their home on March 8 after the couple had been out for drinks.

He left his "distraught" victim with injuries to her face, arm and ear and pain "all over her face and head", after telling her "I'm going to explode", the court heard.

Bellis, who retired from professional cycling in 2015, could not remember carrying out the assault, Cheltenham Magistrate Court heard.

The cyclist, from Cheltenham, returned to the sport after suffering a brain injury in 2009, which left him in a three week coma. He crashed a scooter into a wall in Tuscany.

The court heard the injury triggered aggression in him when he drank alcohol.

Prosecutors said the couple went to the Brewery Quarter in Cheltenham for drinks with friends, before returning to the flat.