A MAN jailed after repeatedly assaulting his former partner blamed his increasing cannabis habit for the violence.

Liam Latham, 20, of Queen’s Avenue, Highworth, was sentenced at Swindon Magistrates' Court to a total of 18 weeks in prison after pleading guilty to two assaults on his ex-partner, another on a detention officer, causing criminal damage to a phone, driving without a licence or insurance and fraud by false representation.

He had already been found guilty of taking her car without consent and criminal damage.

Prosecutor Keith Ballinger said Latham and the victim has been in a relationship for about two years but it ended in March because he was physically abusive towards her.

At 9am on March 23 an argument started over her decision to finish with him. She asked him to leave but he grabbed her, put her in a headlock and took her to the floor of the bedroom, then kicked her in the leg and threatened to kill her.

She managed to free herself but he slapped her hard before dragging her onto the landing.

At that point he grabbed her by the throat and pinned her against the wall. When he let go, she fell to the floor, struggling to breathe.

The assault continued downstairs where he pushed her to the floor, punched her in the head and kicked her again before fleeing the house. The police arrived shortly afterwards.

Four days later he turned up again and walked into the living room. But when she told him to get out he got in her face, said the prosecutor.

“He accused her of sleeping with his brother then started squeezing her head with his hands,” he said.

The assault continued when he punched her on the side of the head, causing grazing. His victim got outside the house and called the police. Latham rode off on a push bike taking her house and car keys.

He was bailed but on April 22 he went to her home again. “He said it was her fault he had been charged for those offences,” Mr Ballinger told the hearing on May 24.

At one stage in the confrontation he picked up a kitchen knife, went upstairs and started attacking the ceiling. She left and called the police but later discovered her car was missing.

Then on May 7 she told police she was in her house when Latham knocked on the front door. He was told to go away but refused and climbed in through a window.

He was shouting at her, demanding property he claimed was his. He then punched her eight times.

After his arrest, as police were struggling to shut the hatch on his cell door, he spat at the detention officer.

Ben Worthington, defending, said: “He understands that really the start of this series of offences was caused by his use of cannabis. That made him paranoid about his relationship.”

He recognised the problem and had arranged an appointment with a drug treatment service.

“He has a long criminal history, I cannot get away from that. He used to be a teenage tearaway,” said Mr Worthington. But he had been forced to grow up in recent months.

The court heard from probation that Latham had been a cannabis user for 12 years and his intake had increased, but he had read up about drug-induced psychosis and wanted to see his GP for help.

The magistrates ordered Latham to pay £700 prosecution costs and a victim surcharge of £115.

He is expected to serve half his sentence before release on licence.