A THUG ripped his girlfriend’s clothes off before throwing food at her and threatening to kill her in a humiliating assault.

Gethin Howells also put his knee on her chest making it difficult for her to breathe and told her he would “beat her black and blue”.

The 37-year-old carried out the terrifying assault on his now former partner at her flat in Barry on March 14, Cardiff Crown Court was told.

Howells turned on her while they were drinking and playing games with a friend after she became jealous after she mentioned a man.

Gareth James, prosecuting, said: “They had been in a relationship and had been together for about two years.

“The defendant began to scream at her, grabbed her and began ripping her clothes off.

“The victim doesn’t believe there was a sexual motive and that he was just trying to humiliate her.

“He then began throwing food at her.

“The defendant put his knee on her chest causing her difficulty to breathe.

“The victim describes being frozen with fear.

“He told her, ‘I’m going to beat you black and blue and I’m going to kill you.”

Howells also put his foot through her oven door and tipped her off a sofa causing her to hit her head.

Mr James read out the victim impact statement which said: “I have survived a prolonged assault and I had to beg him to stay safe in my own home.”

She described the defendant as being in a “frenzy” that night.

Howells, of Pardoe Crescent, Barry pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, intentional suffocation, threats to kill and criminal damage.

He has previous convictions for violence in a domestic abuse context, criminal damage and drink driving.

Karl Williams representing Howells said his client was a mechanic who had moved to Tenerife to start a business but had to return home as a result of Covid.

The defendant became an alcoholic while living there, the court was told.

His barrister said both Howells and the victim had been drinking heavily and taking cocaine that day.

Mr Williams added how the defendant had spent the last three months in custody and had worked to beat his alcohol addiction.

The judge, Recorder Simon Hughes, told Howells: “You became jealous and the victim describes you as being irate.

“You began ripping her clothes off and you pulled her top off and tried to pull her trousers down in an attempt to humiliate her.”

He added: “You present a high risk to the public, more specifically to your partners.”

Howells was jailed for 18 months and made the subject of a five-year restraining order not to contact his ex-girlfriend.