Newport: Thug beat up ex-girlfriend after stealing £300

Travis Roberts, 30, bragged he had taken seven bags of cocaine prior to him launching the assault at her home in Newport after they had argued.

Their relationship was described as “toxic”.

He also attacked his former partner’s sister-in-law by pushing her during the same incident.

She branded him “a dangerous man” in her victim impact statement.

Prosecutor Alexander Orndal said: “When the defendant arrived, he was bragging that he had taken seven bags of cocaine.”

Roberts’ assault on his ex also included him grabbing her by the hair and pushing her into a wall.

Mr Orndal told Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court: “She said, ‘He started laughing at me when I was on the floor and he was calling me a s**g.’

“The defendant told her sister-in-law, ‘I’m going to knock you out and beat up your boyfriend.”

Roberts, of Commercial Road, Newport, admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH), fraud and assault by beating.

The offences occurred on February 10.

He has 15 previous convictions for 22 offences, including ABH from a prior domestic violence incident.

That assault was on a different former girlfriend for which he was jailed for 12 months.

Amelia Pike representing Roberts said: “He is remorseful and deeply ashamed of his actions.”

She asked the court to take into account her client’s guilty pleas and she admitted that the incident had been fuelled by drink and drugs.

Judge Richard Kember told Roberts: “These offences are aggravated by your previous convictions, the fact that it took place in a domestic context and in the victim’s home and that you were under the influence of alcohol and drugs at the time.”

The defendant was jailed for 12 months and was told he would serve half that sentence behind bars before being released back into the community on licence.

He was made the subject of five-year restraining orders not to contact his ex-girlfriend or her sister-in-law.

Roberts will also have to pay a victim surcharge.