A STALKER warned his ex-girlfriend he would murder her after she walked out on him for giving her a black eye and a cut lip.

Darren Hill, 34, from Newport was described as a “serial domestic abuser” whose offending was only getting worse.

The defendant and the woman got together last year but the relationship was a “rocky and tempestuous” one, Cardiff Crown Court was told.

Hill first assaulted her on November 6, 2022 by punching her twice in the head and followed this up by attacking her again on April 15.

Both were alcohol-fuelled after he had vowed to give up drinking.

When the victim ended things, the defendant bombarded her with threatening telephone calls and texts.

MORE NEWS: Three Newport men and a woman in court charged with violent disorder

Jac Brown, prosecuting, said: “One threatened to cut her legs and another message threatened to murder the complaint.

“The defendant was trying to make her make a withdrawal statement in terms of the previous matters (the assaults) and continued to ask her to provide him with money for a tracksuit.

“On April 25 she could hear him crying down the phone begging her to take him back.”

Hill would also hound her at work by making repeated calls to her there.

On April 26 alone there were 43 missed calls from him and he was arrested later that day.

The defendant, of Libeneth Road admitted stalking and two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

He also accepted being in breach of a suspended prison sentence.

Hill has 24 previous convictions for 62 offences which included domestic violence.

Stephen Thomas representing him said: “He recognises his behaviour was frightening and upsetting for his victim and he is genuinely remorseful.

“His best mitigation is his early guilty pleas.”

The judge, Recorder David Warner, told Hill: “The pre-sentence report describes you as a serial domestic abuse perpetrator and I agree with that analysis

“There is a step up from your previous offences of battery and that suggests your offending is getting worse, not better

“It's clear from the evidence that the that the relationship was a rocky and tempestuous one, one described as an on off relationship.

“But that does not excuse your behaviour.”

He added: “I'm satisfied that this does pass the custody threshold.

“It's at least your third conviction for an assault on a partner.”

Hill was jailed for 20 weeks which means he will be immediately released from prison as had been remanded in custody since his arrest in April.