Drug thug attacked Leeds partner and kicked and punched family dog
A drug-addled thug who attacked his partner later kicked and punched their family dog in the street after it escaped.
Jonathon Clarke was jailed after admitting repeated attacks on the woman and on the Presa Canario breed outside his home in Harehills.
The 34-year-old, who was being held on remand, appeared at Leeds Crown Court via a video link from HMP Leeds.
The court heard that Clarke and the woman had been in an “on/off” relationship for around eight years, and had two children together.
Clarke had grabbed the woman’s arm in July of last year, causing bruising.
Then weeks later they got into an argument about money and the debt he had built up through his drug taking.
He punched her to the eye causing it to swell, before putting his hands around her neck, pinning her to the floor and choking her.
Then in early September, they began arguing again about her phone going missing. She accused him of taking it.
After he told her to “f*** off”, she walked away but he pursued her and punched her to her thigh.
While still angry, the dog had escaped through an open gate. He went after it and punched and kicked the animal once he caught it.
Prosecutor Mahdev Sachdev said witnesses in the street saw Clarke pull the dog back to the property by its ears, then pushing his partner out of the way when he got to the house.
The police were called by neighbours who witnessed the attack on the dog.
Clarke tried to run from arriving officers but they caught up with him and detained him.
Clarke, of Darfield Street, Harehills, gave a no-comment interview.
He later admitted three counts of ABH, one of strangulation and one of cruelty to an animal.
He has 12 previous convictions for 22 offences, but none for violence.
Mitigating, Fen Greatley-Hirsch said Clarke’s offending came at a time when his drug use was “out of control”.
He said he accepts full responsibility and had showed remorse.
He added that Clarke’s partner had wanted to end the relationship which “regrettably” led to his behaviour.
She said he was now clean of drugs and accepted that “something has to change”.
Mr Greatley-Hirsch said Clarke would benefit from intervention by the probation service and that a suspended sentence could ensure that.
But Judge Tahir Khan KC told him that custody was “inevitable”. He jailed him for 24 months and gave him a five-year ban from keeping dogs.