Notts man bit and strangled partner after "blowing up" in a rage

A Notts man who bit and strangled his partner until she passed out "blew up" after she told him to leave the house, a court has heard.
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David Smith grabbed the woman by the neck and punched her in the ribs, arm and shoulder, and she fought back and scratched his face, said prosecutor Dawn Pritchard.

The incident in Highbury Vale on July 1, last year, saw him bite her finger, then kneel on her and grip her throat until "she could feel herself losing consciousness."

When she came around, she left the house, but not long afterwards, there was a further altercation in the street.

STOCK: Domestic violence illustration.STOCK: Domestic violence illustration.
STOCK: Domestic violence illustration.

Smith lunged at her, grabbing and scratching at her face, and tried to pull her out of a car. He hit the woman six or seven times, before a friend intervened.

His victim was left with a sore neck, marks on her throat, bruising, scratches and the bite mark.

"She says she was terrified and left him," Ms Pritchard told Nottingham Crown Court. "She doesn't want him to control her life anymore.

"She doesn't feel he has any regard for the emotional, physical and financial impact on her."

Smith, who served a “lengthy” prison sentence in 1998, has previous convictions for 49 offences, and was last in court for assault occasioning actual bodily harm in 2007.

The 49-year-old, of Britannia Avenue, Highbury Vale, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault.

On Friday, Judge John Sampson told him: "Had there been a trial, the sentence would have been at least 20 months. You are entitled to some credit for your guilty plea.

"I am sure you have been trying to put your past behind you and you're ashamed.

"But this was a sustained, nasty assault in which your victim sustained a number of nasty bruises and scratches. At one point she was suffering from strangulation

He sentenced Smith to 16 months, suspended for two years, and ordered him to attend 20 rehabilitation days and the building better relationships course.

A five-year restraining order banning him from contacting the woman was also imposed.

Judge Sampson warned him: “If you get into any kind of trouble the law says the sentence will be activated unless there are exceptional circumstances.”

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