A Swindon teenager who attacked his ex-partner in a Tesco car park spent his birthday weekend behind bars.

Oliver Santos, of March Close, pleaded guilty to two counts of assault by beating, sending offensive messages, criminal damage and threatening behaviour to cause harassment, alarm or distress at Swindon Magistrates' Court on August 19.

Appearing in the dock on his 19th birthday, the court heard how police had received reports from an eyewitness about a heated argument between him and his on and off partner in Tesco car park.

By the time the woman intervened, he had pushed his ex twice and Santos then threatened the stranger while her children were present, prompting her to ring the police.

Santos said to the stranger: “What the f*** are you looking at? I’ll come over and hit you in a minute and drag your kids across the car park.”

Following this incident and while on police bail, Santos continued to intimidate his ex-partner over Snapchat and repeatedly called her, saying: “how dare you, I’m coming to your house, you better see me.”

When she agreed to meet up with him on August 15, Santos threatened her in person by saying “you are not going to make it home tonight” and threw her phone, pushed her in a bush and punched her arm.

She said Santos’ behaviour made her cry and he proceeded to damage her necklace and her brother’s car.

Santos claimed that she had come over to him in a pub while he was on bail to initiate conversation and he tried to explain he wasn’t allowed to speak to her, but she “cornered him” and reassured him that if they did meet up, nobody would find out.

Mr Hotson, defending, said Santos “went along with it foolishly and naively” and found out she had been seeing his friend behind his back, which led to further violent outbursts.

He added that Santos' weekend in custody was a “steep learning curve” for the teenager, who has no previous convictions and has been struggling with ADHD, which was said to impact his behaviour significantly.

The magistrate decided to adjourn the sentencing, telling him: “You’re young, you’re 19 and these are quite serious offences. We need to know more about you.”

She added that breaching bail once was “not a good look”, but she granted him a second chance to prove himself until his sentencing on September 27.