A WOMAN who moved to Swindon to get away from her former partner was tracked down and assaulted by him on multiple occasions.

James Cooper travelled 60 miles from Southampton to find the woman.

He assaulted her on two separate occasions, including grabbing her by the throat, fracturing her cheek bone and kicking her in the groin.

She now suffers from panic attacks and nightmares, Swindon Crown Court heard on Wednesday (March 23).

Cooper then lied in his police interview and defence statement, prosecutor Adrian Fleming told the court, claiming the victim sustained the injuries from falling off a bike.

The defendant’s trial was delayed in January, after he turned up to the court drunk, fell asleep, and then ran off after waking up. He was arrested and the next day changed his pleas to guilty.

Judge Jason Taylor QC jailed the 50-year-old for two years and eight months.

The court heard that the victim had “nothing but problems” with Cooper after he tracked her down to Swindon.

“He was following her around, was acting in a dictatorial fashion with her, and couldn’t get away from him,” Mr Fleming said.

Cooper, the victim and a friend of the victim had been drinking in July 2020 when he “suddenly slapped her around the face, causing her to see stars”.

He then kicked her to the groin. “This caused [the victim] to cry, but his response was not a pleasant one, he told her to ‘shut the f*** up or I’ll kick the s*** out of you in front of your friend’,” the prosecutor added.

She left the property with her friend, but Cooper followed, kicking her legs out and forcing her to fall to the ground.

The more serious attack happened weeks later when they were walking through a subway.

Mr Fleming continued: “He then flipped in his attitude, saying someone is going to die tonight.

“He grabbed her by the throat, the first time pressing hard for 15-20 seconds, then he did the same for a slightly shorter time, 10-15 seconds.

“He then punched two or three times to the eye, which caused a fracture to the cheek bone.”

Cooper, of Ascupart Street in Southampton, also bit the woman to the leg and smashed his foot on her leg. It left her in “agony and terrified of what he might do next”.

The victim needed surgery on her cheek.

In mitigation, Christopher Pix said that his client expressed remorse for the assaults: “Speaking to Mr Cooper this morning one of the first things he asked me to do was express his wish to apologise.

“He is a man who has had a long-term addiction for over 20 years for both drugs and alcohol, it is perhaps to his credit that he has confronted his addiction to heroin and is no longer a user of that particular drug.”

Mr Pix added that Cooper’s recollection of the events are “hazy” because he was drunk, but described the eight-weeks he has spent in custody on remand since the aborted trial as “a wake-up call”.

Sentencing for one count of causing actual bodily harm and one count of causing grievous bodily harm, Judge Jason Taylor QC jailed Cooper for a total of two years and eight months.