A COWARDLY bully has been jailed after he launched a “brutal, sustained and merciless” attack on his then-girlfriend.

Oliver Torkington, 39, had denied charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and strangulation relating to the attack at an address in St Clears on March 23, but was found guilty at trial.

Swansea Crown Court heard that after a night out, Torkington attacked his girlfriend out of “paranoid jealously” after seeing her talking to a doorman when they were out, and as she had seen another man whilst she and the defendant had broken up.

Summing up the evidence heard at trial, Judge Paul Thomas KC described the incident as “a brutal, sustained and merciless attack”.

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“She was very drunk and defenceless in your flat,” he said.

“You strangled her and punched her and stamped on her head.

“You also thrashed her savagely and repeatedly with a thin piece of metal.”

The victim suffered a broken finger, and the court heard that she still heard ringing in her ear from where Torkington had stamped on her.

The court heard that the defendant also took his partner’s phone, meaning she was unable to call for help.

Prosecutor Jon Tarrant told the court that Torkington, of Pembroke Road in Haverfordwest, had 16 previous convictions for 24 offences – including 12 for violence.

Harriet Ealden, appearing for the defendant, said the attack was “impulsive and spontaneous” and involved no element of pre-planning.

“All of these matters appear to be linked with drinking and perhaps illicit substances. Since this incident, he has taken steps to address that. He informs me he is six months clean and sober.

“It has certainly woken him up.

“He did a drug rehabilitation course whilst he was on remand for this case.

“While it’s accepted that the defendant does have a history of previous violence, it’s not domestic.”

Ms Ealden said Torkington was in “a poor place” at the time of the offences, as he was “about to lose his house, his car and his job”.

Judge Thomas branded Torkington “a coward as well as a bully”, and added that the defendant would pose “a real threat” to any woman “who has the misfortune” of entering in to a relationship with him.

“The simple fact is that you do not have the guts to admit what you have done,” he said.

“I wonder how you would feel if any man treated your daughter how you treated your partner in this case.”

Torkington was jailed for two years and nine months for the assault, with a 20-month concurrent sentence for strangulation.

His ex-partner was granted a five-year restraining order against him.