An Oldham man who attacked his former partner and killed her dog in the process has been jailed – and ordered to stay away permanently.

Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard Keith Robinson had previously been in a relationship with the woman but after being convicted of an attack on her had been given a restraining order in 2015.

But contact between the pair resumed after this expired and he was at her home in Shaw in June last year.

As he was preparing to go he told her he thought she was happy he was leaving, and accused her of seeing another man.

He got the pin to her phone and read a message which ended with a kiss and became irate, shouting “if I can’t have you no one else will, I am going to kill you and kill myself.”

Robinson grabbed her by the throat by both hands causing her to struggle to breath and punched her.

As he went to get a knife from the kitchen she got out of a window into the garden and called for help from the neighbours.

He emerged outside with a knife and knocked her to the ground and kicked her there.

The woman’s dog, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, came to assist her but Robinson stabbed it causing it to die.

After neighbours had seen some of the incident Robinson left the area.

He was later detained and admitted causing grievous bodily harm.

The 56-year-old had been charged with killing the dog but prosecutors opted not to go ahead with this charge.

Prosecutor Juliet Berry revealed the impact on the woman.

She said: “She says that he has made me feel fear for my own life.

“I do not know what is going to happen, that is what scares me.

“I thought he was going to use the knife on me.”

Representing Robinson, defence counsel Gordon Hennell said there was only one piece of mitigation which was his guilty plea.

Imposing a sentence, judge Sophie McKone said: “You used the knife to kill her dog, you are not facing charges in relation to that, but that is what happened.

“That is what she has had to put up with.

“It was a terrifying incident for her, you are clearly as far as she is concerned a violent bully.

“It was utterly appalling and disgraceful.”

She jailed Robinson, of HMP Forest Bank, for 31 months and imposed a lifelong restraining order prohibiting any contact with her.