A jealous and violent bully who attacked his partner when he found out she had another man in her flat has been jailed for 20 months.

Danny Smith, 25, bit the woman’s cheek and smashed her head against a wall before filming on his phone while he abused her.

Prosecutor Peter Shaw told St Albans crown court that the woman was at home in Cairns Close, St Albans at 5.15pm with a male friend when Smith arrived shouting abuse.

He kicked the door before returning with a long-handled metal object, which he used to smash open the door.

The woman, who had ended the relationship in September 2014 after a number of years, had called the police and told the other man to leave.

Once inside Smith smashed her phone against the floor and searched for the man.

“He pulled her hair, bit her cheek and smashed her head against a wall. She felt she was going to be sick and blood started to come from her mouth,” said Mr Shaw.

She asked him to get her some ice for the cut and he threw and bag of frozen prawns at her before filming her on his phone and spitting at her.

After grabbing her by the trousers and throwing her around the room, Smith left. But as he went down the stairs of the flats he was confronted by a woman police officer.

He ran back into the flat saying: “Tell me you have not called the police.” He then climbed up onto the roof before the police talked him down.

Mr Shaw said the victim told the police Smith had made her life hell: “He treated her like she was his property. She thought he was going to kill her. She suffers from anxiety and these events have emotionally and physically affected her life.”

Smith of Garden Cottages, Frogmore, pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm and two charges of criminal damage on June 7 this year. He had a previous convictions for battery when he received a Community Order and in September 2010 was sentenced to 15 months for causing actual bodily harm in a baseball attack on a man who had got into a car with his girlfriend.

Defending Mark Tomassi said: “He has been behaved like a bully and that needs to be addressed. He is a jealous person who can’t control his temper. When he is in a temper he can’t control his fists.”

Jailing him, Judge Andrew Bright QC told Smith: “This is about as serious an example of domestic violence as I have seen. It was born out of jealousy. You couldn’t accept the relationship ended.”

The judge also made a Restraining Order banning him from contacting the victim, directly or indirectly.