A man accused of driving at his former partner in an Ipswich supermarket car park and ramming her car has been jailed for 12 months.

Before Ipswich Crown Court was 30-year-old Justin Noble, of Thomas Road, Clacton-on-Sea, who had denied dangerous driving and assaulting Pareese Bear causing her actual bodily harm on October 2 last year.

He was found guilty of dangerous driving by a jury after a two day trial but was cleared of the assault charge.

He had previously admitted criminal damage to Miss Bear's car and damaging her phone and was jailed for a total of 12 months and banned from driving for 14 months.

He was also banned from contacting Miss Bear for five years.

During his trial it was alleged that Noble wanted to stop Miss Bear working as an escort and rammed her car into a wall in the Sainsbury's car park in Hadleigh Road, Ipswich.

He had then driven his Nissan X-Trail at Miss Bear causing her to run out of the way to avoid being hit before allegedly forcing her into the back of his car and squeezing her throat so hard that she lost consciousness.

Giving evidence Miss Bear claimed that when she came round and accused Noble of hurting her he allegedly said: "I'm not trying to hurt you I'm trying to kill you."

Cross-examined by Emma Nash, for Noble, Miss Bear said she had an on off relationship with Noble for several years and had been staying with him at his parents' house in Clacton after coming out of another relationship.

She accepted she worked as an escort and said on October 2 Noble had driven her to Ipswich to pick up a car she had bought before driving her to see a client in the area.

She said that when they went to the Sainsbury's car park to collect her car they had a row and when she got out of his car he had rammed her car.

She denied the row with Noble was about her working as an escort and that the reason he had driven at her car was to stop her using it for her work.

Giving evidence Noble denied driving his car at Miss Bear and trying to strangle her in the back of his car.