Controlling boyfriend humiliated his girlfriend by setting her Christmas present on fire and subjected her to horror attack at Leeds hotel

Simon Ward carried out the assault after subjecting the woman to months of controlling and humiliating abuse.

Leeds Crown Court heard Ward would attack the woman on an 'almost weekly basis'.

One one occasion he set one of her Christmas presents alight when he saw a friend request on her phone from another man.

Ayman Khokhar, prosecuting, said Ward had been abusive and violent towards the victim over a five-month period leading up to the assault.

Ward was made the subject of a domestic violence prevention order in October last year.

The attack took place on January 14 this year at the Park Plaza, on Boar Lane.

The couple had spent the evening drinking and Ward became angry when he saw his partner talking to one of her friends in the street.

Ward assaulted the woman as soon as they returned to their hotel room.

The prosecutor said Ward grabbed the victim by the throat and pinned her to the wall as he called her names.

He continued to choke her then banged her head against the bathroom floor.

Other hotel guests heard the disturbance and the victim's cries for help.

Ward was then aggressive towards hotel staff and police were contacted.

The court heard Ward had been violent towards the woman on an "almost weekly basis" for months before the incident.

Mr Khokhar said the 38-year-old defendant would regularly grab her arms, shake her and pull her hair.

One of her neighbours described how the she would often see the victim with "unexplained bruises" to her face and body.

On Christmas Eve he flew into a rage after he looked at her phone and saw a social media friend request from a man.

He pulled her hair then threatened to burn all her Christmas presents and torch her flat.

Ward took one of her gifts and set it alright.

The following day he deliberately drank a bottle of Prosecco she had saved so she could make bucks fizz on Christmas Day morning.

Ward then taunted her because she had no money to buy another bottle.

On Boxing Day he refused to allow her to stay in the pub they were in as there were other men present.

The court heard Ward refused to allow her to see her friends.

He also controlled what clothes she wore and what food she ate.

Ward, of West Lane, Keighley, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate relationship.

He has a previous conviction for stalking in 2016.

Mr Khokhar said: "At least some of the conduct was intended to humiliate her."

Ward appeared in court via a video link from HMP Hull but did not have legal representation.

He told the judge, Recorder Andrew Latimer, that he could not remember carrying out the attack due to medication he had been taking for his mental health.

Ward told the court he had been diagnosed as having depression. He said he was sorry for what he had done to the victim.

Recorder Latimer jailed Ward for 22 months.

He said: "The assault itself was the culmination of five months of coercive and controlling behaviour. It was aggravated by what went before it."