A MAN poured a pint of beer over his girlfriend’s head after he lost money playing on a gambling machine in a pub.

Ryan Williams, 30, from Newport was being sentenced for controlling and coercive behaviour against his long-suffering former partner over a six-year period.

The defendant would accuse the woman of being unfaithful to him despite the fact that he would cheat on her and had started a relationship with her mother.

James Evans, prosecuting, said: “The defendant and the complainant were at a Wetherspoon pub in Maindee when he was on a gambling machine.

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“When he lost some money he became angry and he poured a pint of beer over her before he threw the empty glass at her which struck her arm.

“His behaviour she describes as being controlling and he always wanted to know where she was and he would go through her phone.

“When she was out he wanted her friends to speak to him to prove that she was with them rather than presumably with somebody from the opposite sex.”

Williams, of Darwin Drive, also smashed up their flat, challenged her new boyfriend to a fight and criticised her about her weight, Swansea Crown Court was told.

In a victim personal statement the woman said “she is petrified of him and was concerned that he might kill her”.

The defendant pleaded guilty to controlling and coercive behaviour between January 1, 2018 and January 2, 2024.

He has 23 previous convictions for 37 offences which include affray and criminal damage.

Ben Waters representing Williams said his “ashamed” client’s offending had occurred when he was drinking.

“The root of his evil is alcohol and when he isn’t misusing alcohol, he lives a law-abiding lifestyle,” his barrister added.

The defendant had already served the equivalent of a 10-month jail sentence after being remanded in custody since his arrest.

The court heard he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after losing part of his left ear when he was assaulted in a suspected robbery four years ago.

Judge Wayne Beard said that although his victim “must have terrified” he was prepared to spare the defendant from serving an immediate prison sentence.

Williams was jailed for 15 months, suspended for two years.

He must complete a 12-month alcohol treatment requirement alcohol and a 20-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

The defendant was also made the subject of a five-year restraining order.