A MAN who punched his ex-partner so hard that she was sick has been locked up for the brutal attack after threatening to ‘kill her’.

Jake Harvey managed to persuade the woman to go to a hotel with him but turned aggressive when they started talking about him have access to their child.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the 23-year-old punched her several times to the face before grabbing her by the hair and banging her head off the wall.

Rachel Masters, prosecuting, said Harvey found her in a bar in Middlesbrough before persuading her to go to a hotel with him as their relationship was okay at that stage but he turned violent after drinking vodka and ‘flipping’ out.

Read more: Drink driver downed vodka before crashing ex-partner's car

She said: “The complainant told him he was ‘acting like a child’ and he had been ‘taking some substances’ and the defendant then punched her to the face causing a considerable amount of pain.

“She was able to kick him back but the defendant continued to punch her repeatedly and she felt at that stage that she had struck by about six hard blows to the head and felt disorientated.

“She tried to escape from the attack and was sick. At one stage the defendant banged her head of the wall three times by grabbing her hair and pulling it.”

The Northern Echo: Jake Harvey. Picture: CLEVELAND POLICEJake Harvey. Picture: CLEVELAND POLICE

The court how the woman tried to hide in the bathroom but he burst through the door and threatened to ‘kill her’.

Miss Masters said: “She in anger said ‘go on do it then. You’re getting boring now’, she then sat on the bed where the attack continued.

“He grabbed her by the neck and squeezed tightly, she went down onto the bed and she can’t remember how long this went on for but he put his hand over her mouth and she struggled to breathe.

“She was extremely scared. He then smothered her with one of the pillows and again she was unable to breathe.”

The victim managed to get help from hotel staff, police were called and the defendant was arrested near to the Sporting Lodge where the attacked happened.

Harvey, of Outram Street, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, criminal damage, and breach of a restraining order, following the attack on January 30 this year.

Kelleigh Lodge, in mitigation, said: “He fully the seriousness of the offending and that he needs to be punished for that, he accepts that the custody threshold had been passed, so didn’t ask for a pre-sentence report to be compiled.”

Recorder Gurdial Singh jailed the father-of-one for two years after hearing Harvey had previous offences for assault and stalking.

He said: “She described you for some reason ‘flipping’; you became more and more angry shouting and throwing things around the room. She, unsurprisingly wanted to go, and without any further ado you punched her to the face, full force.”

Harvey was made subject to a five-year restraining order to protect the victim.

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