Porn row man 'sees red' and strangles girlfriend

A boyfriend "saw red" and throttled his partner during a row about him watching porn on his phone. Jonny Gray pinned the woman down on the bed for about 10 seconds after she challenged him, a court heard.

The 32-year-old pub worker, of Coombe Road in Paignton, pleaded guilty to intentional strangulation and was given a suspended sentence with unpaid work. He said he felt sick about what he had done and was sorry.

The incident happened in October of last year. Gray's partner saw a free ad for a porn site pop up on his phone while they were ordering a takeaway. They started to argue about "breaking boundaries" and his desire to watch free porn on social media.

The pair had both been drinking and he pushed her onto the bed," said prosecutor Garth Richardson. She admitted squaring up to him and challenging him to get on and "do something" if he was going to.

But instead of swearing at her as she expected he pinned her down with both hands around her neck. She didn't lose consciousness but could not breathe, said the prosecutor. "She felt he'd seen red," he added.

She managed to get free and he left the room. A few days later Gray said he kept picturing what had happened and felt sick about his actions. There had been previous incidents when he had grabbed at her and she lost clumps of hair, said Mr Richardson.

Martin Salloway, said Gray had no relevant previous convictions. The pair have since gone their own ways. There was no application for a restraining order. Gray has given up drink and turned his life around.

Judge James Adkin accepted the defendant was remorseful. He imposed a 15-month suspended sentence with 200 hours of unpaid work.

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