A woman routinely subjected to abuse at the hands of her boyfriend was chillingly warned she would be "hunted down" after she escaped his clutches.

The mum, who was from Herne Bay, had met Mark Miller online but throughout their two-year relationship he resorted to behaviour a judge described as a "very bad example" of control and coercion.

This included making her a prisoner in the home they shared, forcing her to take drugs, installing cameras to monitor her movements and taking possession of her phone and bank cards, with any two-step authentication linked to his email address and number.

The 28-year-old also accompanied her to the bathroom when she needed the toilet or to shower, and would remove part of a lock mechanism on the bedroom door at night so she could not leave.

If she did try to leave the house, he would physically stop her or bring her back, or threaten to harm himself, Canterbury Crown Court was told.

Even when he had been recalled to jail on an unrelated matter, he threatened her from behind bars into sending him money from her benefits.

His repeated verbal abuse included calling her a 'prostitute' or 'whore' and accusing her of cheating on him.

A friend witnessed him "shouting for six hours" at the sobbing woman following a row over make-up and, when she was eventually successful in packing a bag and fleeing, he caught up with her at Herne Bay train station, shouting abuse before assaulting her on the platform.

But his pursuit of her was unrelenting even once she was free as he bombarded her with messages, calls and voicemails via TikTok, Snapchat and WhatsApp, said prosecutor Vishal Misra.

"There were accusations of infidelity, expressions of jealousy, confessions of love and threats that he knew her location," he told the court.

Having suspected he would in fact trace her whereabouts, it was to her horror that she then received photos from inside a car travelling on the motorway with road signs visible for Dover and Canterbury.

"The defendant also contacted the complainant's sister and he left voicemails including threats to hunt her (the victim) down and kill the entire family," added the prosecutor.

"The victim says you have ruined every part of her life…”

Her mother also received messages from Miller, although they were to express his love for her daughter, and it was after he turned up at her grandmother's home in Herne Bay in July this year that police were alerted.

His victim later told officers that she had fled Miller in fear for her life.

"During the course of their relationship the defendant would be controlling over her through various means which has caused her alarm and distress, and had a substantial adverse effect on her usual day-to-day activities," said Mr Misra.

In a victim impact statement she described how she had resorted to self-harming and been left suffering from panic attacks, nightmares, PTSD and feeling she was being stalked.

But he was the one visibly distraught at his sentencing hearing on November 21 when it was said his behaviour may have been linked to the deaths of his grandmother and eight-year-old sister.

As a crying Miller sat with his hands to his face, his lawyer Phil Rowley said the two bereavements occurred "in relatively quick succession".

"He simply thinks that led to an inappropriate use of drink and recreational drugs, which may have impacted on his behaviour during the course of this relationship," he told the court.

But he added that Miller was "developing an understanding" into what caused the offending, was "completely open" to intervention and support, and had taken steps to address his problems while in custody since his arrest.

Miller, of Oldford Rise, Welshpool, Powys, pleaded guilty to offences of controlling and coercive behaviour between January 2022 and July this year, and assault by beating on July 17 this year.

Appearing for sentencing via prison video link, he at one point interrupted Judge Simon Taylor KC to protest that for 15 months of the relationship he had been in prison.

He also denied making any threats to kill her family and said he had gone to see his girlfriend's grandmother with a bunch of flowers to apologise.

But, on jailing Miller for two years, Judge Taylor said: "This was a prolonged and persistent course of controlling and coercive behaviour.

"She tried to leave you several times and you used multiple methods to stop her. You caused her to self-harm, such was the anguish she was suffering.

"You left her in fear for her life and you bombarded her with messages, threatening to kill her entire family and to hunt her down, turning up at her grandmother's address.

"The victim says you have ruined every part of her life."

The court heard that in spite of having seven previous convictions for 23 offences, none were of a similar or relevant nature.

Having learnt his punishment and also been handed a 10-year restraining order, Miller was then warned by the judge: "I wish you the best in your quest to rehabilitate yourself in the future. and my God, you need to otherwise the sentences are going to get longer and longer."