Man jailed for strangling and beating partner

Jamie Pretlove unleashed a "disturbing level of violence" on his girlfriend, police said

A man who punched his partner repeatedly, tried to strangle her and beat her with a suitcase has been jailed.

Jamie Pretlove, 32, of Redhall Close, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, flew into a rage when his girlfriend confronted him with "flirty" messages from him to another woman which she found on his phone.

Cambridgeshire Police said he attacked the victim at their home in Cottenham on 29 October 2022 after she slapped him in the face.

Pretlove was found guilty of intentional strangulation and actual bodily harm at a hearing earlier this month, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison at Peterborough Crown Court on Thursday.

Police said Pretlove had punched the woman several times in the head and used his body weight to pin her down on a bed while he strangled her.

Pretlove got off the victim, who had been struggling to breathe, and started to pack a suitcase.

The argument started again and he threw her to the floor, punched her several more times before using the suitcase as a weapon to hit his partner in the face and body.

Police said the woman, now bleeding, escaped to the bathroom and called 999.

Pretlove was arrested at the scene.

Pretlove admitted to police he had grabbed the victim around the throat, but claimed he had not restricted her breathing.

He was found guilty of the offences in court, jailed and given a restraining order for seven years.

DC Matthew Lander said: "Pretlove inflicted a disturbing level of violence on his victim, and I am relieved he has been put behind bars."