A violent brute tried to suffocate his partner with a mop pole and stamped on her when she refused to give him money for drugs.
Tony Rackstraw, who has had both his legs amputated and has prosthetic limbs, had only been going out with the victim for a few months but she described the relationship as abusive. In the early hours of July 30 last year Rackstraw attacked her in her home.
Sentencing him at Newcastle Crown Court, Judge Penny Moreland said: "You had been drinking and taking cocaine and you asked her for more money to get more cocaine. She refused to give you any money and you became violent and began pushing her.
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"You punched her and you used a mop handle to push down on her neck and chest. She said she couldn't breathe and thought you were going to kill her.
"She passed out as a result of you restricting her breathing and came round to find you stamping on her."
The victim said in a statement read to the court that the attack has impacted on her mental health as well as leaving her with physical injuries. She said: "He has controlled and manipulated me.
"Since the assault it's resulted in my depression worsening and I've been suffering nightmares. Some days I won't speak to anyone. This has resulted in my mental health suffering.
"I wish I had never met him. He has ruined my life." She added that his behaviour had adversely affected her relationship with other people, including her daughter.
Rackstraw, 37, of Aycliffe Crescent, Springwell, Gateshead, who has previous for domestic violence, was found guilty by a jury of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He was jailed for two years and three months and given a five-year restraining order.
Robin Turton, defending, said Rackstraw suffers from a genetic condition which has resulted in him having both legs amputated. He added that during his time in prison on remand he had not been provided with properly fitting prosthetic legs until recently. He also has an enlarged heart, high blood pressures and depression and Mr Turton added: "A prison sentence is going to weigh heavily on him."
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