A JEALOUS domestic abuser who dragged his partner from a car and threw her into a window before kneeling on her neck has been jailed.

Fuelled by jealousy and paranoia, Joshua Sergeant, 26, carried out a “continued onslaught of physical and verbal abuse”, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.

Judge Mary Loram QC described how, on October 31 last year, Sergeant launched his most serious attack on his girlfriend.

She said: “On that day, you became jealous and possessive. You terrified your girlfriend with you driving and deliberately so.

“You struck her to the face, claiming ‘it was just a backhander’.

“You dragged her out of the car and then threw her so hard into the window she thought she had smashed it.”

The court heard Sergeant “didn’t stop there”.

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Judge Loram added: “You got back in the car and you drove, as she puts it, like a maniac, all the while demeaning her.

“Once out of the car, you pulled her to the ground and you knelt on her neck so that she couldn’t breathe. She estimated that was for five seconds.

“That’s long enough to cause unconsciousness and death in many cases, that is why it is so serious.

“Your abuse, verbal and physical, continued, leaving her terrified and scared for her life.”

The court heard Sergeant carried out another assault on October 9, and sent “unpleasant and threatening” messages to the victim.

Sergeant admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm, assault by beating and two counts of sending electronic communications to cause distress.

Gazette: Joshua SergeantJoshua Sergeant

At a previous hearing, Richard Conley, mitigating, said: “Mr Sergeant has demonstrated real shame and genuine contrition about his behaviour and his actions.

“This is a person who encountered a set of personal circumstances which put him to the brink of suicide – and he has come back from that and sought help.”

Sergeant also admitted being concerned in the supply of cannabis and cocaine after police discovered drugs in a padlocked bag in Chapel Lane, Thorrington, in June 2018.

It included 2.7kg of skunk cannabis with a potential street value as high as £54,000.

The court previously accepted Sergeant was acting as a custodian of the drugs to pay of a debt.

Judge Loram said Sergeant’s previous convictions showed the offender had carried out an act of domestic abuse before.

She said a pre-sentence report showed Sergeant had displayed a “wholesale lack of acceptance” of his wrongdoing.

She sentenced Sergeant to 50 months imprisonment.