A VALLEYS man grabbed his ex-girlfriend up by the waist and forced her into his van before driving her around for two hours.

Nathan Redman, 25, got into an argument on October 23 with his then-girlfriend Josephine White – who left to go to a friend’s house.

Prosecutor Hywel Hughes said Redman sent her a text message saying he was going to leave her clothes in the garden before driving round to White’s friend’s house.

Newport Crown Court heard Redman, of Upper Garn Terrace, Blaenavon, confronted Miss White in front of the house before she turned to run away.

Mr Hughes said: “She only got a few steps away when he grabbed her by the waist, picked her up and put her inside the van. She didn’t want to be there.”

The court heard she was driven around for a couple of hours, at one point getting out and walking away before Redman told her to get back in, which she did. She was dropped off at the Waitrose store in Abergavenny.

For Redman, Sarah Waters said her client pleaded guilty to common assault at the earliest opportunity and although it was not a pleasant incident, Miss White did not suffer any injuries. She said Redman wan keen to draw a line under the matter.

The original indictment Redman faced was one of kidnap and false imprisonment, but these charges were ordered to lie on file.

He was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison, with a consecutive four-week sentence for a breach of an existing suspended sentence.

As he had been on remand since January, he had already served his sentence so was allowed to leave the court