A man tried to "take complete control" of his ex-partner's life and assaulted her.

Benjamin Smedley appeared at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on Wednesday, July 31, after previously pleading guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and coercive and controlling behaviour.

Philip Hall, prosecuting, told the court that in early 2023, Smedley began a relationship with a woman who he had previously been friends with.

However, during the course of the relationship, Smedley, of Otmoor Way, Royton, was controlling and could be violent towards her, often demanding to see her phone and refusing to let her go out.

In one incident, on February 13 last year, the couple were out for dinner with another couple and on the way home, Smedley, 26, pushed the victim into a wall and then smacked her once they returned home.

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In late March that year, the victim was set to go on a holiday with friends when she went to Smedley's home the night before her flight.

There, Smedley attacked his victim, hitting her in the face and causing her nose to "explode", according to Mr Hall.

Smedley then threatened her, saying: "Don't f***ing cry, if you wake my dad up I promise you you'll get another one."

In another incident, this time on April 14, Smedley smashed the victim's phone.

She decided to go and meet a friend to get her phone fixed as she was worried if Smedley went to fix her phone he would go through it.

Believing that the victim might not return home, Smedley asked her to leave her dog with him while she was out, however he later threatened that he would kill the dog and "chop it up".

Other incidents saw Smedley organise for people to damage the victim's car and he once hit her while she was behind the wheel.

In a victim personal statement read out in court, the victim said she had contemplated suicide and had been left feeling "scared and worthless" even after the abuse ended.

She described her life at the time as a "miserable existence" and said she would sometimes cry herself to sleep.

Defending, Rosalind Scott-Bell admitted that Smedley, who has a history of violence, had not yet learned from the past.

She said Smedley mental health at the time was "precarious" due to his mother's sudden and tragic death, but she admitted he had "abused" a person he "should have cherished".

When passing sentence, Judge Michael Blakey said Smedley had tried to "take complete control" of the victim's life and had emotionally blackmailed her at points.

He sentenced Smedley to two years and seven months in prison and issued a restraining order, restricting him from contacting the woman until a further order was made.