A DRUNK dad put his ex-partner in 'considerable distress and fear' when he dragged her out of bed and strangled her in her own home. 

Leonard Hodgkins of Kingston Close, Malvern, was jailed for 18 months at Gloucester Crown Court on Monday.

The 47-year-old Malvern man strangled his terrified ex and got jail time after he admitted the attack at her home in Cheltenham on November 6 last year.

Judge Ian Lawrie KC told him: "You indulged in violence against your former partner which caused her considerable distress and fear and it took place in her own home.

"I'm not quite sure why events in your life sometimes dictate that you indulge in violence against women."

Ieuan Callaghan, prosecuting, said that Hodgkins and the woman broke up last year but on Nov 5 she allowed him to stay the night and sleep on the sofa.

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"At between 3-4am she was woken by the defendant barging into the bedroom and being abusive towards her," said the prosecutor.

"He pulled her out of bed and pinned her against the wall, putting his hands on her face and strangling her. She managed to struggle free and she was eventually able to get him out of the bedroom.

"She then asked a neighbour to call the police. The defendant was arrested thereafter. 

He initially denied he has strangled her.  Mr Callaghan told the court Hodgkins, a father of five, had 21 previous criminal convictions covering 34 offences, mostly for dishonesty. But there was one for injuring a former partner.

The victim of the latest offence had declined to make a victim impact statement and was not seeking a restraining order, added the prosecutor.

Morgan Pirone, defending, said Hodgkins has spent the last nine months in custody on remand since the offence and had enrolled on a 'Building Better Relationships' course just two days after his detention.

"He is a man with some awareness of his problem and he is willing to tackle it in the future," said Mr Pirone.

"He has an unfortunate antecedent history because of his past offences of a domestic nature but they are relatively limited and one is nearly two decades old and was an offence committed in drink. The later one was a push which resulted in an injury.

"He does not have a particular propensity for violence in his relationships. He has not committed any breaches of restraining orders or family court orders."

Judge Lawrie said he considered two years was the right prison sentence for Hodgkins' offence but he was able to reduce that to 18 months to reflect the defendant's late guilty plea.