A drunken Whitehaven man who pinned his ex-partner down by the throat has been jailed for almost a year.
David Hewer, 37, had remained on good terms with the woman after they split and on May 2 this year they had drinks with friends across the road from her home.
But Hewer drank himself into an stupor. He was barely able to walk unaided and just before midnight was seen lying in the middle of the street outside.
His former girlfriend was helped by others as Hewer was taken to her address to sleep and sober up.
But when she returned home in the early hours of the morning and found a sofa and two beds soiled, and woke Hewer.
Carlisle Crown Court heard how she described him completely shattering a mirror over his head. “He rubbed his head on the living room wall, spreading blood (from a cut) all over it,” said prosecutor Tim Evans.
She then remembered him holding her neck, throwing her to the floor and putting his foot on her throat — not applying pressure but preventing her from moving.
When he removed his foot, the woman went back across the road but was initially unable to wake her neighbours.
And when she returned home again, she found Hewer burning a T-shirt in the kitchen. He then shoved her to the ground, causing her to bump her head and suffer bruising to the side of her face.
Hewer, who caused around £1,000-worth of damage to her property that night having also hurled a television and microwave to the floor, later admitted actual bodily harm assault and three counts of criminal damage.
The court was told he accepted being alcohol dependant and needing help, but also that he missed a previous court hearing after turning off his phone and engaging in heavy drinking.
Judge Nicholas Barker jailed Hewer, of Esk Avenue, for 50 weeks.
“It is an appalling course of conduct to somebody who had offered you assistance,” said the judge.
