A drunken man who grabbed a woman so tightly around her neck that she feared she would die has been locked up.

Charlie Checkley became more argumentative and aggressive when the pair were out drinking last summer and strangled the woman in his flat.

The 25-year-old's victim suffered a broken finger as she fought to get him to release his grip during the drunken row and assault, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Paul Newcombe, prosecuting, said the pair had been out in Loftus before returning to the defendant’s flat where he violently attacked the woman on July 29 last year.

The court heard how the woman ran from the defendant’s flat wearing just her bra and bottoms after removing her blood-soaked top.

The Northern Echo: Charlie CheckleyCharlie Checkley (Image: Cleveland Police)

Checkley, of Zetland Road, Loftus, east Cleveland, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and intentional strangulation.

Robert Mochrie, mitigating, said his client had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

Judge Richard Bennett jailed Checkley for a total of 22 months as the ordeal must have been terrifying for her.

He said: “When she was on the ground you kicked her a number of occasions. You grabbed her by the throat with two hands and told her you were going to kill her.

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“It is accepted that wasn’t your actual intention at the time.

“Once again you put your hands around her throat and she tried to fight back. Her finger was broken and her mouth was bleeding.

“When she did break free you said ‘this is it, you’re dead now. I’m going to kill you’.”

The judge told Checkley that his threat to kill himself after the assault was an attempt at ‘emotional blackmail’.