A DOMESTIC abuser from Ashburton has been found guilty of conducting a six months campaign of violence and intimidation against his former partner.

Zachary Coleman tried to throttle the terrified woman and hit her in the mouth so violently that her teeth were pushed through her bottom lip.

He became irrationally jealous, launching one attack after she thanked a man who let her jump a queue at a cash machine and another after falsely accusing her of sleeping with his boss.

His rages also caused damage at her home in South Devon, where he punched a hole in a wall, broke her phone, and snapped off the door handle in her kitchen, forcing her to jump out of the window to escape his anger.

Coleman, 35, of Higher Roborough, Ashburton, denied but was found guilty of strangulation, assault causing actual bodily harm, common assault, controlling and coercive behaviour and criminal damage by a jury at Exeter Crown Court.

He was found not guilty of a second count of strangulation. 

He was remanded in custody by Recorder Andrew Willetts, who ordered the probation service to prepare a pre-sentence report.

He told him: ‘I have to warn you that custody in this case is inevitable. The length of the sentence has still to be determined.’

Miss Evie Dean, prosecuting, said Coleman was in a relationship with the victim and living at her home in Torbay in October 2022 when the controlling behaviour began.

His irrational jealousy led to a series of arguments, including one in the kitchen after she had just come home from delivering Christmas cards in December. 

He slammed her against a wall with his hand on her neck and hit her repeatedly in the head. 

She tried to push past him but he broke off the door handle, forcing her to jump out of the window to get away.

The couple split up for a while but got back together and his violence resumed on March 7 he accused her of sleeping with his boss and pushed a milk carton from which she was drinking into her mouth.

He punched her several times in the face, causing her teeth to puncture her lip, causing an injury which needed hospital treatment in which stitches were inserted.

The final assault took place on March 31 when they were out together and she thanked a stranger who had let her jump a queue at a cash machine by saying ‘love you so much’.

When they got home, he became jealous and pinned her down on her bed by her throat, stopping her breathing for a short time. She managed to call the police but he did not let them in. 

He went on to punch a hole in a wall and damage her coffee table.

Coleman denied all the assaults and told the jury he was the victim of his girlfriend’s jealousy and aggression during the incidents.