A violent thug who punched, kicked, and strangled, a woman in her own house has been locked up for the brutal, sustained assault.

Jonathan Dobson launched the unprovoked attack on his new partner when he got drunk while helping her to build a new bed.

The 40-year-old left his victim too terrified to return to her Darlington home where the violent assault took place, Teesside Crown Court heard.

In a victim impact statement, the woman said she was scared that he was going to kill her as she blacked out while he was strangling her.

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She said: “When he is sober, he is the nicest person but when he is in drink he changes into somebody who is jealous and paranoid.”

Emma Atkinson, prosecuting, said the attack had left the victim feeling too scared to live in her home and she suffered flashbacks when she did try to return after the assault in May last year.

The violence outburst started when the victim tried to get Dobson to leave her home when he became agitated and placed her hands on him to guide him out of the front door.

Miss Atkinson added: “He said ‘If you touch me again, I will knock you out’. The next thing she felt was a punch to her head and her lip was bleeding.

“He then launched a sustained attack on her. He dragged her through the house and strangled her until she lost consciousness in the downstairs bathroom.”

The judge heard how the defendant continued to kick and punch his victim while she was on the ground before strangling her again.

Miss Atkinson said the woman was forced to climb out of a window to escape Dobson before running to neighbour’s house for help.

The Northern Echo: Jonathan DobsonJonathan Dobson (Image: Durham Constabulary)

Dobson, of Acacia Street, Darlington, was found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm at magistrates court and sent to Crown Court for sentencing.

Kelleigh Lodge, mitigating, said her client’s mental health had suffered following his father’s suicide and he had turned to drink and drugs to cope.

She added that he had sought help to address his alcohol problem following the attack on May 30 last year.

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Recorder Andrew Latimer sentenced Dobson to 28 months in custody and made him subject to a seven-year restraining order.

He said: “You punched her in the face, head and body, and dragged her through the downstairs rooms into the bathroom.

“The most dangerous aspect of all is you strangled her, on one occasion she blacked out.”

Dobson was also ordered to pay his victim £250 in compensation.