A Suffolk man who sent his former partner a video of him standing in her back garden holding a petrol can and flicking a cigarette lighter following a row has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Nathan Winslow and his former partner had argued while she was giving him a driving lesson and she had driven off leaving him in Sudbury after telling him to get out of the car, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

He had later sent her a text asking where she was and in her reply she told him to find somewhere else to stay, said Marc Brown, prosecuting.

He had then threatened to “kick the door in” and had called her 20 to 30 times before sending her the video of him threatening to burn her house down.

When she returned home she couldn’t initially see Winslow but he had then started banging at a rear door and window asking to be let in to collect his belongings.

When she let him in he had stripped naked and got into her bed and had then grabbed her wrist and pulled her on to the bed.

She fell backwards and landed awkwardly half on and half off the bed and felt pain in her rib cage.

Winslow had then grabbed her by the throat so tightly that she she was going to die, said Mr Brown.

The attack came to an end when she managed to get her legs round his neck and push him to the floor.

Winslow had then tried to break her phone when she said she was calling the police and had pulled the batteries out of the landline phone.

The court heard that the couple had been in a relationship for nine years and Winslow had been sent to prison in the past for offences committed against her.

Winslow, 29, of Aveley Lane, Alpheton, admitted common assault, criminal damage, sending a threatening communication and was given an 18 month prison sentence suspended for two years.

He was also ordered to do 180 hours unpaid work and to attend a Building Better Relationships programme.

He was also given a prohibited activity requirement banning him from contacting his former partner for 12 months without permission from his probation officer.

John Farmer or Winslow described his client’s behaviour as “unacceptable” and said he accepted the relationship with his former partner was over.