A BRUTE left his partner face down in the road after a night on the town and threatened to behead her during a campaign of domestic violence.
Palito Arteaga-Aponte attacked the woman repeatedly during their short relationship in Crawley.
On one occasion the woman, whom The Argus has chosen not to name, was found lying in the road after she was punched in the face.
Arteaga-Aponte shoved her to the ground in their kitchen where she suffered a broken wrist, Lewes Crown Court heard.
Other attacks included the thug kicking her to the hip and grabbing her hair, and grabbing her by the throat and choking her.
He sought to monitor and control the vulnerable woman’s social media connections and physically dominated her, and told her if she reported the abuse that it would be her who would end up being arrested.
The 46-year-old Spaniard was jailed for two years and one month for causing grievous bodily harm, four assaults, and criminal damage.
Louise Walls, prosecuting, said the first attack was in June last year where Arteaga-Aponte punched the victim in Deptford High Street after a night out.
Then in December there were a string of assaults which included the woman suffering a broken wrist.
With that injury, the thug attacked her again by kicking her hip, grabbing her hair, and choking her in separate incidents, Ms Walls said.
Grabbing her throat he shouted: “If you are ever unfaithful to me I will take your head off.”
In another incident he demanded to see her mobile phone after she had received a notification. When she refused to give him the PIN, he grabbed her phone and stamped on it.
Graeme Wilson, defending, said the grievous bodily harm charge was in fact the least serious incident as it had resulted from a push, while the other assaults risked far more serious consequences.
He said Arteaga-Aponte, a father-of-three, was in touch with his family in Spain every day.
Mr Wilson said it was a relationship where “jealousy existed” and said the impact of the lockdown and pandemic made tensions worse.
His Honour Judge Martin Huseyin said this was “no excuse” for the defendant’s actions.
“I have concluded that this conduct was a persistent effort aimed at physically dominating and controlling this lady,” the judge said.
He said Arteaga-Aponte, of Woolborough Road, Crawley, had shown signs of “victim blaming”, and warned him that he could now face deportation.
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