A jealous thug throttled his fiancée and punched her in the face after discovering she had been texting another man, a court heard.

Luke Vicarey, 20, twice strangled his partner of three years until she saw stars and then struck her in the head as she tried to get up from her bed in Paddock Wood.

Maidstone magistrates heard that five days earlier the former car salesman, of no fixed address, had pulled his victim’s hair after finding out she had been contacting her ex.

Prosecutor Paul Roach said the couple ended their relationship after the first attack on April 25 and Vicarey, unemployed, left his girlfriend’s mother’s home, where they had been living.

But when he returned to collect some clothes on April 30 he again checked her phone and flew into a violent rage when he found she was continuing to text the other man.

Mr Roach read a victim impact statement in court on Monday which said she had injuries to her face after the second attack, felt scared to go outside and had needed to take a week off work.

"We take this case extremely seriously. In fact you were probably 60 seconds away from a murder charge" - Chairman of the bench, Alan Golding

Vicarey breached bail conditions not to contact his ex by inundating her with messages of apology and making more than 70 calls.

Samatha White, defending, said her client sincerely regretted his actions. She said: “I think he has learnt a very harsh lesson.

“He knows he has to move on and he knows there will be other girls out there and to be more respectful of them.”

Vicarey admitted two counts of common assault.

Alan Golding, chairman of the bench, handed Vicarey a 56-day suspended sentence, 15 days of rehabilitation and 200 hours unpaid work. In addition he must pay £500 compensation, £85 costs and £115 victim surcharge. A one-year restraining order banning contact with the victim was also imposed.

Mr Golding said: “We take this case extremely seriously. In fact you were probably 60 seconds away from a murder charge.

“When you strangle somebody so hard they see stars you are not far from killing them. If we see you in the next 18 months we know where you are going. You will have a bag with your pyjamas and a toothbrush and you will be going through that door.”