"Mind-numbingly awful"
Michelina Lewandowska escaped from a cardboard box by cutting her way out with her engagement ring. PA

A Polish man who attacked his girlfriend with a stun gun before burying her alive with a stun gun has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Marcin Kasprzak, 25, was handed the sentence at Leeds Crown Court after being found guilty of the attempted murder of Michelina Lewandowska, 27, in December.

Lewandowska was bound and gagged with tape and buried in woodland in Huddersfield, but managed to cut herself free using her engagement ring.

She then dug her way out of the makeshift grave, which was covered with earth and a tree branch, before flagging down a passing car for help.

While passing his sentence, Recorder Peter Collier QC said Lewandowska's death had been intended to be "long and slow".

"It's mind-numbingly awful to imagine the sort of death you intended her to die," he said.

Kasprzak snapped after the couple had split and Lewandowska made it clear she wanted custody of their three-year-old son Jakub.

He claimed he only wanted to scare her.

Lewandowska said thoughts of Jakub gave her the strength to fight her way out of the box and escape."