A thug who throttled a woman he met on a dating website has become one of the first people in the UK to be jailed under a new non-fatal strangulation law. Benjamin Flatters, 32, launched the violent attack six weeks after meeting the victim on Tinder at her home in Spalding, Lincolnshire, on June 23.
A court heard he placed his hands around her throat at the top of the stairs before continuing the assault in her bedroom, which lasted up to five minutes. She eventually managed to flee the house and asked a neighbour to ring 999 while Flatters ranted about going back to prison and threatened to burn the house down.
Police arrested Flatters at the scene and found the woman with red marks around her neck, although she had not suffered any serious injuries. Flatters, of Spalding, pleaded guilty to non-fatal strangulation, threatening to set the woman's home on fire and criminal damage at Lincoln Crown Court.
