jade goodyJade Goody visited on-off boyfriend Jack Tweed in jail for the first time yesterday after he was sentenced to 18 months in prison for an assault charge.

After being found guilty at a trial in July, Jack was sentenced to the jail time in a hearing on Monday following the attack in December 2006. At the trial, Chelmsford Crown Court heard how Jack and neighbour James Mattock had shouted at a gang of teenagers visiting a takeaway near their homes before attacking them, including hitting a then 16 year old with a golf club.

Jade, who was not present at the hearing, is said to have sent a letter to the court, begging them to not give him jail time because of her recent cervical cancer diagnosis. Jack’s lawyer Andre de Moller told the court that Jade “needs her man” to support her during the “long road ahead of pain and distress”. But the prosecution claimed that Jack may have felt “invincible” because of his celebrity status and the viciousness and nature of the attack warranted custody.

After just over a week of tests, Jade was expected to have been told yesterday what treatment she would need for her cancer - a radical hysterectomy and chemotherapy have both previously been discussed.

Before her visit to the doctors, she was spotted arriving at Chelmsford Prison yesterday morning with Jack’s mum Mary. She carried toiletries and shoes into the prison while crying.

She is quoted in the Daily Mail as telling a friend yesterday: “This couldn’t have come at a worse time. I’m in bits. I’m devastated. Jack is my rock.”

Jade and Jack have been together, on and off, since 2005. Jade has two young children, sons Bobby and Freddie, from a previous relationship.