A hulking 6ft 8 brute weighing 22-stone sat on his girlfriend and punched and choked her while making death threats in a dispute over phones.
Kevin Cavanagh had confiscated his partner's mobile in an apparent act of jealousy so she threw his device out of the window. After going to retrieve it, he launched a sustained attack on her which left her covered in blood and with a broken nose.
A court heard the victim thought she was going to die as the 57-year-old assaulted her and warned she would not get out alive. Now Cavanagh, of Gateshead, has been jailed for 32 months.
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Newcastle Crown Court heard they had been in a "fairly tempestuous" on-off relationship for around four years. There had been "quite a number of issues" but she kept quiet about most of them because she would have struggled to find somewhere else to live.
She had moved out for periods but by January 23 this year she was back at his home on Palatine Place, Dunston. They had been consuming alcohol and trouble suddenly flared. Prosecutor Neil Jones told the court: "She was looking at her phone around 7pm and this appeared to aggravate him and he took her phone from her and was not going to give it back.
"He went to bed with her phone. She presumed there was some sort of jealousy in relation to a friend she had been texting. In frustration, she took his phone and threw it out of the window and told him to get it from outside. He did get it and when he came back she was on the sofa.
"He grabbed her by the back of her dressing gown and threw her to the ground and sat on top of her, repeatedly punching and slapping her to the head.
"He was quite a big man, around 22 stone, so she was helpless and feared for her life. He then wrapped his hand around her throat and squeezed hard, saying 'You are not going to leave here alive' and 'I'm going to slit your throat'.
"She thought she was going to die and begged to go to the toilet. He said 'No you're not getting out alive'."
The attack lasted around 20 minutes and by the end of it she was covered in blood, had bruising to her face, neck and chest and a broken nose. Her blood was also "all over the flat", the court heard.
In a victim impact statement, the woman said: "This made me fear for my life. I believed he was going to kill me due to his actions.
"It made me feel petrified and I'm having flashbacks. I was in agonising pain around my face and body." The court heard she sought refuge at her dad's home afterwards after fleeing bare foot in her dressing gown and he saw her in her injured state.
Cavanagh, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and threats to kill and was jailed for 32 months by Judge Penny Moreland.
Tony Davis, defending, said: "He has to accept it was a very unpleasant piece of spontaneous domestic violence which was driven, undoubtedly by him consuming far too much alcohol that day. He is of good character and has led a blameless existence hitherto and is in full-time employment."
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