A menacing thug killed his horrified girlfriend's puppies in front of her by repeatedly slamming them into a concrete floor.

Jimmy Smith attacked the cocker spaniels - named Sky and Angel - in a final act of cruelty following a campaign of mortifying abuse against his long-suffering partner.

The 34-year-old, who sought to assert dominance over his terrified victim, was jailed for seven years and five months at Canterbury Crown Court on Thursday.

Judge Simon Taylor KC described the harrowing moment Smith took the lives of the two defenceless dogs at their Ashford home.

“[Your partner] saw that you had both of her puppies on their leads and then heard a thud and the puppies screaming,” he said.

“She saw you swinging the puppies by their leads and hitting their heads against the solid concrete floor, throwing them to the ground repeatedly.

“The next time she looked she saw that you were dragging the puppies along the floor by their leads.”

Following Smith’s fit of rage, one puppy died at the scene while the other was put down at a veterinary practice, following the macabre ordeal on the evening of August 7 last year.

In the hours leading up to the attack, an enraged Smith told the woman: “I’ve knocked your spleen out and now I’m going to scar your face."

He then picked up an axe and swung his arm, as if to throw it at her, the prosecution said.

His terrified partner subsequently told the police in a statement: “I am devastated, angry and hurt. I don’t know what to feel.

" I just can’t believe it, it is a dream and I am going to wake up and it’s not going to be true - I can’t believe he has done this.”

During the years prior to killing the dogs, Smith subjected his partner to persistent physical assaults, stalking, threatening and controlling behaviour.

He would hunt her down at bars, restaurants and even a car garage while she was having a tyre replaced.

So persistent was Smith’s stalking, his girlfriend “had to say to her friends not to post anything on Facebook for fear of (Smith) finding out”, the court heard.

In a torrent of vicious physical attacks Smith knocked her unconscious in front of neighbours, broke her thumb on a separate occasion, and attacked her so frequently she “just became used to it”.

Smith’s brave victim told the court in a statement on Thursday she lived in “constant fear” during their 13-year relationship, and continues to feel terrified.

“I was too scared to report to the police as I knew the repercussions would be further physical abuse towards me," she said.

“Even now when I know he’s locked up I’m scared that he’s going to find a way to do something to me.

“I don’t think a day goes by where I feel like I can relax and be myself, and when he is to be released from prison I don’t know what he could do.

“He constantly told me that he can’t live without me and if we were ever to split up he would come back and kill me.

"He will never be sorry for what he’s done because in his eyes he does not see anything wrong with his actions and this is a normal way of living.”

Smith, recently of Thames Ditton, pleaded guilty before a trial last year to two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and controlling and coercive behaviour between August 2019 and August 2022.

The abuser, who has six convictions for 20 offences, was supported by about 20 family members in the public gallery.

They could be heard trying to console Smith after the judge passed sentence.

Representing Smith, Benjamin Hargreaves said he is illiterate, “finds language hard to comprehend”, and subsequently descends into aggression.

Mr Hargreaves described Smith as “devastated” by his behaviour, adding: “He is a man who is inadequate and was inadequate in his way of try to deal with the relationship.”

He told Judge Taylor that Smith entered early guilty pleas and branded his conduct an “utterly terrible and pathetic action".

Smith, who appeared in court wearing a white shirt, was also handed a 10-year-restraining order.

Time already spent on remand will be deducted from his overall sentence.

An RSPCA spokesperson said of the puppies' deaths: "We are so sad to hear about this deeply tragic case.

"This shocking incident reminds us that pets sadly can be used as a way of controlling people, as a form of domestic violence.

"We would urge anyone experiencing these problems to seek help from the police or a domestic abuse charity, who will also be aware of any charities who provide pet fostering services to help care for animals while owners can get the support they need.”