A TENBY fisherman has been jailed after subjecting his partner to what a court described as a “campaign” of violence and intimidation throughout their relationship

Oscar Allen, 23, of St Julian’s Street, Tenby carried out repeated assaults on his partner between September last year and August, Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard. Prosecutor Harry Dickens said Allen’s behaviour was “violent and toxic” during the relationship, with a series of incidents that left his victim living in fear.

The court was told that in November or December last year, Allen became enraged after seeing his partner on her phone while he was cooking. In anger, he hurled a plate of food at her — narrowly missing — before it smashed against the wall. He then accused her of being “sneaky” and shouted at her.

In early May, when the victim told Allen she planned to go out with friends, he became aggressive and told her: “You’re not f***ing going out.” He pushed her around their bedroom around 15 times, snatched her phone, and locked the front door to prevent her from leaving.

After noticing a text message from a male friend, Allen’s anger escalated further. He spat in his partner’s face, called her “disgusting”, threw a washing basket at her head, and hurled her phone against the wall.

Later that month, on 26 May, the pair attended a friend’s birthday celebration at a pub in Saundersfoot. During another argument, Allen grabbed the victim’s finger and pulled it back before lifting her onto his shoulder and carrying her away. He placed her on a bench and gripped her throat with one hand.

“She describes thinking she was going to die,” Mr Dickens told the court.

Allen then took her phone and only released her after some time. The victim returned to her friends inside the pub, but Allen was refused re-entry. Undeterred, he followed the group to Sands nightclub, where he spent the night stalking his partner and threatening any men who spoke to her. Using her phone, he purchased £20 worth of drinks for himself — then poured them over her each time.

In another incident at a dance event in Narberth on 26 July, Allen threw his partner over a grass bank after she asked to dance with her friends. Weeks later, on 11 August, he slapped her twice in the face “unprompted” at an afterparty following nights out in Tenby.

Allen pleaded guilty to five offences of assault by beating, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, strangulation, fraud by false representation, and criminal damage. The court also heard he had three previous convictions for four offences and was already serving a 12-month suspended sentence at the time of the attacks.

In mitigation, defence barrister James Hartson said: “There’s very little I can say about the offences themselves that would assist either the court or the defendant. Mr Allen is rightly and thoroughly ashamed of his actions. This was an appalling series of offending against his partner.”

Mr Hartson added that Allen had undertaken courses in prison to address issues of domestic violence and anger management.

Sentencing him to 30 months in custody, Judge Daniel Williams also activated the full 12-month suspended sentence, to run consecutively.

“This was a sustained pattern of violent, controlling behaviour,” the judge said. “Your partner lived in fear because of your actions.”

Allen will serve half of his sentence in custody before being released on licence.