A THUG left his on/off girlfriend covered in blood after threatening to “put her in a box” during a brutal assault.

Gary Matthews had “bumped” into the woman in Ebbw Vale town centre this April and went back with her to her flat in Tredegar.

The pair had been drinking at her home before he carried out the savage attack in the early hours of the morning, Cardiff Crown Court was told.

The 35-year-old defendant strangled his now former partner as well as punching and biting her.

Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke told Matthews: “You had been in an on/off relationship for about two years.

“It was on/off because you were in and out of prison.

“She had a new address because she was so afraid of you and she didn’t want you to know where she was living.”

The judge added: “You committed a sustained assault upon her, you strangled her by putting your hands around her neck.

“Pinning her against the wall, you tried to smother her by covering her mouth and you bit her neck.

“You were shouting, ‘I’ll put you in a box and cover it with water.’ “You punched her, causing her to spin around and fall smashing her face on a coffee table, causing her a cut to her forehead which bled profusely.

“She was knocked out, she came around with blood covering her face and you walking around the flat saying, ‘I’m going down for five years for this’.

Matthews punched and strangled her again and the victim screamed for help before managing to escape after running into the street.

Matthews, of Station Road, Waunlwyd, Ebbw Vale, admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH).

The offence was committed on April 24.

Steven Donoghue, prosecuting, said the defendant had previous convictions for violence including ABH.

It was said it mitigation that Matthews had pleaded guilty.

He was jailed for two years and three months, made the subject of a restraining order not to contact his victim and has to pay a statutory surcharge.