A man caught on camera as he grabbed his ex-partner by the throat outside her Wigton home has been sent to prison.
Thomas Robert Miller, now 27, was subject to a previously imposed suspended prison sentence — which he had since breached once by drink-driving — when he went to the woman’s address on June 10.
Their relationship had broken down and he had also found out the previously day he was being made redundant from his job.
A neighbour used their phone to film Miller’s arrival at the woman’s house. Prosecutor Tim Evans told Carlisle Crown Court Miller was drunk.
His ex used a vehicle parked in the drive and then a wheelie bin — which Miller could be seen hurling during the incident — to shield herself as he gave chase.
But Miller then grabbed her by the throat before being dragged away “extremely angry” by a friend before leaving in a car.
The victim was seen shaken up and told the neighbour she didn’t want to report the matter and be seen as a grass. She called police from work after he incident, initially lodged a complaint but had not made a statement.
Mr Evans told Judge Nicholas Barker the woman had said: “I just don’t want to but I know it won’t stop until I do.”
Miller, of Greenacres, Wigton, admitted common assault. He was said by his barrister to have lost his temper in the heat of the moment. He had also been the victim of a recent stabbing.
But Judge Barker concluded that despite Miller having been offered rehabilitation in the past, “I’m afraid the line has been crossed”.
Jailing him for a total of 28 weeks, the judge said of Miller’s assault: “It was violent. It was forceful. It must have been very upsetting and terrifying for her.
“You are, after all, a big and powerful man, and she is much smaller than you.”
