Whisky-fuelled "monster" punched and strangled ex on night away at South Shields seafront chalet
A "monster" who strangled his ex during a night away at a seafront chalet has been put behind bars.
Nigel Blackburn repeatedly punched the woman then put his hands around her neck and squeezed after downing whiskey. Newcastle Crown Court heard in the weeks after the attack in May Blackburn bombarded her with unwanted calls.
The victim said in an impact statement, which was read in court: "I genuinely thought he was going to kill me that night." Prosecutor Neil Jones told the court the victim had been in a relationship with Blackburn, which she "attempted several times to end" before they were booked into the chalet near the beach in South Shields, South Tyneside.
The court heard Blackburn thought it would just be the two of them but the victim brought a female friend along, which he seemed unhappy about. Mr Jones said violence flared in a bedroom after the former couple had been out of the chalet and Blackburn had been drinking whiskey shots.
He told the court: "She was on the bed and he punched her to the face, side of the head and body. She tried to fight him off and he grabbed her, smashed her head against the wall. He tried to pull her off the bed by the legs but she resisted, causing the bed to crash into the doorframe.
"He placed both hands around her neck and started to strangle her so she couldn't breathe. At that stage she thought she was going to pass out."
The court heard when the woman's friend asked to call an ambulance, Blackburn told her: "Yous are going f***** nowhere." It was around four hours later and after the victim pretended to have a fit, when he finally started to calm down.
The friend who witnessed the violence said he was "acting like a monster". Blackburn, 43, of Wear Road, Hebburn, admitted assault and harassment of his ex and was found guilty of intentional strangulation after a magistrates court trial, where he was also convicted of common assault on the friend.
Judge Stephen Earl sentenced him to two years behind bars and issued a restraining order to protect the ex partner. Robin Patton, defending, said: "This was an utterly toxic relationship made worse by alcohol."
Mr Patton said Blackburn was "upset" that the friend was brought along to what was meant to be a night away for just two of them and added: "He clearly has a problem with alcohol, clearly has a problem with that relationship."