A jealous bully strangled his girlfriend and bit her face after she told him she was unhappy with their relationship, a court heard.

Taylor Kirkpatrick, from Ashford, left the young mum terrified she would die as he squeezed her neck for up to half a minute during his violent outburst – and later threatened to blow up her car and set her house alight.

Canterbury Crown Court was told the "emotionally immature" 24-year-old was "physically shaking with anger" as he accused her of "talking to someone else" and adding friends to her Facebook account.

Despite her denials and there being young children in the home at the time, the plasterer threatened he was "going to lose it" if she did not tell him the truth.

The woman told police she was sitting on the edge of the bed when Kirkpatrick, who was standing in front of her, then "went mental" and tried to throttle her.

"He put both hands around her neck and pushed her down onto the bed. His face was about a foot away from hers and he was squeezing her neck so hard she genuinely believed he was going to kill her and she couldn't breathe," said prosecutor Martin Yale.

"She couldn't push him off and thought about fighting back but thought it would make it worse and she was terrified she was going to die.

"He told her: 'Tell the truth or I will kill you.'

“He eventually loosened his grip after about 20 to 30 seconds and then grabbed her phone and smacked her in the face with it, as well as pushing it against her face and teeth, causing pain."

The court heard Kirkpatrick stopped the onslaught when the victim asked to pick up the youngest child who was crying. But the assault continued once she was downstairs.

"He said he wouldn't hurt the baby but he would hurt her," said Mr Yale.

"In order to try and placate him, she told him she loved him and asked for a hug. She thought that might calm him down.

"But the defendant ended up in her face, pushing his face against her face, and bit her on the left cheek just underneath her eye.

"She said she didn't know how but his lips were bleeding after he had done that."

The prosecutor said Kirkpatrick then claimed to not care about the child, questioned paternity, and kicked over a Moses basket.

It was when he went into the kitchen to make a drink that the mum fled and banged on neighbours' doors for help.

However, after raising the alarm, Kirkpatrick sent her several messages in which he accused her of cheating and branded her "a f****** s**g", and "a little wrong'un".

"He also sent another person a message saying she had cheated on him, broken his trust, deserves everything, and that he would make her life hell, blow her car up and set fire to her house," added Mr Yale.

Kirkpatrick, formerly of Hampden Road, Ashford, but now of no fixed address, later admitted intentional strangulation, assault by beating, engaging in controlling or coercive behaviour and malicious communication.

Mr Yale said the couple had been in a relationship for just over a year which was "deteriorating and becoming controlling" by the time of the offences in March.

Neighbours had called the police, a TV had been punched, phones smashed and the victim had been threatened with being pushed down the stairs. Kirkpatrick had also been known to take screenshots of her Facebook friends' list.

It was six days after Kirkpatrick had smashed her front door and cracked her toilet on March 17 that she told him how she was feeling and the violence erupted, the court was told.

Kirkpatrick was on bail at the time for two other offences of battery, neither of which were domestic-related, as well as being subject to a community order for failing to provide a breath specimen.

His 14 previous convictions for 22 offences dating back to 2017 also include a breach of a non-molestation order relating to a separate matter not involving the same victim.

Phil Rowley, defending, said "the best mitigation by some distance" were his guilty pleas, but added Kirkpatrick had also shown genuine remorse and recognised the "significant" impact his behaviour had had on his partner.

"One suspects he was not well-placed, given his emotional immaturity and difficult upbringing, to function within an adult relationship with all the demands placed upon that, particularly when children come along," said Mr Rowley.

"He didn't improve that with his use of cocaine – it impacted greatly on his behaviour – and there was jealousy and paranoia on his part."

Jailing Kirkpatrick on Friday for 12 months, Recorder Daniel Stevenson said the fact guilty pleas were entered even after the victim had expressed her wish not to support a prosecution was "an unusual feature" for such domestic abuse cases and demonstrated his "courage".

But the judge added: "I hope while in custody you have begun to understand the impact domestic abuse can have on children.

"It perpetuates a cycle of violence, depression, anxiety, pain and upset. Your child deserves better from you than to be a witness to your violent conduct."

Having been informed the victim did not want a restraining order to be imposed, Recorder Stevenson told Kirkpatrick he was "extremely fortunate" she did not want to prevent him having contact with her or their child.