A THUG who choked his girlfriend, kicked his pet dog and bit a police officer who came to arrest him has been jailed.

Michael Stokes was told he “posed a significant risk to women” by a judge as he sentenced him for committing a catalogue of violence in Newport.

Prosecutor Byron Broadstock, prosecuting, said the defendant’s partner had wanted him to leave the home they had shared in the city after moving in.

Cardiff Crown Court heard how matters came to a head there on October 19 last year when Stokes had been drinking.

Judge Richard Williams told the defendant: “She became afraid of you.

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“The complainant says that you became, in her words, evil and very intoxicated.

“You told her that you hated your dog and that you were going to kick it to death.

“She tried to take the dog outside and in doing so you kicked the dog to the chest.

“You threatened to cut up her former partner.

“At one point you put your hands around her throat choking her to restrict her breathing.

“She was eventually able to call the police.”

When officers arrived, the court was told Stokes had challenged them to fight him before he bit one constable who was placing handcuffs on him.

The judge added: “You can be fairly described as a serial abuser of women.

“You pose a significant risk to women.”

Stokes, 45, of Laleston Close, Barry, pleaded guilty to affray, causing unnecessary suffering to an animal, assault by beating and criminal damage.

He has previous convictions for violence.

The defendant was jailed for 20 months and made the subject of a five-year restraining order not to contact his victim.

The defendant was banned from keeping animals for three years and ordered to pay a victim surcharge following his release from prison.