A WOMAN ‘thought she was going to die’ when her abusive partner strangled and punched her after she kicked him out of her flat.

Simon Lythe, of Eastwood Road, Woodley, was finally locked up after committing yet another assault on a woman.

The 28-year-old former army rifleman was imprisoned following an incident on March 8, 2022, when he and his partner had been arguing about a post on his Instagram feed.

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He left the house and took her car which prompted her to threaten to call the police.

Worried this may trigger the suspended sentence he received for a previous assault on another woman, Lythe returned to the flat to find his possessions outside his partner’s home.

He forced his way in and pushed her into a door handle, which caused a large cut on her back.

After this, Lythe pushed the woman into the bedroom and held the door shut, preventing her escape and preventing her from calling police as her phone was in another room.

The defendant eventually opened the door and continued to push the woman around the house before he “placed his hands around her neck so tight she could barely breathe”, prosecutor Sarita Basra told Reading Crown Court.

She broke free after hitting him in the crotch but this caused Lythe to retaliate and punch the woman in the head.

Thankfully, the victim escaped Lythe and sought help from a neighbour.

She was left with bruising on her arms, legs and neck and was “shaken up.”

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Ms Basra said: “She really thought she was going to die. She felt this was going to have a lasting effect on her future relationships and her way of life”

Reading Crown Court also heard of an incident in the days beforehand in which Lythe kicked the woman.

She threatened to report him but Lythe ‘manipulated’ his partner into telling officers nothing had happened when she made the call.

Ms Basra said Lythe had four previous convictions, including choking his former wife in 2017, beating up an ex-girlfriend in 2018 and punching another former partner in 2021.

The barrister demonstrated further evidence of Lythe’s ‘controlling’ behaviour when it was revealed he had previously sent a picture of himself with a noose around his neck to a partner who split up with him.

Alejandra Tascon, defending, said the defendant “acted in a way he deeply regrets.”

“He has made really big mistakes in the past and he needs help”, the lawyer continued. 

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His Honour Judge Hassan Khan, sentencing, told Lythe: “You clearly have serious issues controlling your anger.

“Your actions have had a significant impact on your ex-partner.”

Lythe was sentenced to 31 months in prison for assault by beating, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and breaching a suspended sentence order.

He was sentenced at Reading Crown Court on Tuesday, May 24.