A man who told his girlfriend "I'm going to wreck you" in a jealous rage before choking her until she could not breathe has been jailed for more than five years.
David Reid, 40, learned his fate on Tuesday as he appeared by video link in the County Court, after admitting five charges including assault, threatening to kill and intentionally causing injury.
The father-of-five girls, from a town in Victoria's southwest, started a relationship with a woman he met on Facebook in January 2021.
She soon began to realise he was a jealous and controlling man, telling others she was scared of Reid.
About three months into their relationship, Reid began arguing with the woman about her sending messages to another man.
After having dinner together one evening, in April 2021, Reid left and posted a photo of the couple on Facebook with the caption: "Such a shame u [sic] couldn't stop talking to other blokes, you will be missed."
The woman called Reid to ask him about the post, which he claimed was because she was talking to other men behind his back.
He then told her he had been sleeping with other women during their relationship.
Reid later went to the woman's house and tried to comfort her, as she was crying.
Her mother came over in an attempt to mediate, and then left believing the situation had de-escalated.
But Reid then began an hour-long onslaught of assault on his partner.
He grabbed her, threw her to the floor and yelled: "I'm going to wreck you. I'm going to kill you, you should know not to make someone like me angry!"
While she was on the ground, Reid put his knee on her chest, wrapped his hands around her throat and squeezed the woman's neck so hard she could not breathe.
He then threw her on the bed, hit her and ripped off her pyjamas.
She tried to get away, but Reid stood over her and hit her repeatedly before choking her again.
He choked her four to five times over one hour.
Reid eventually left and was arrested three days later, but did not plead guilty until January 2023 after prosecutors dropped a rape charge.
He told a psychologist he felt jealous and "lost the plot" when he assaulted the woman.
Judge Sarah Dawes jailed Reid for a maximum of five years and six months on Tuesday for the terrifying ordeal.
"To have been threatened to be killed, choked and assaulted by you must have been a terrifying and traumatic experience," she said.
Reid has been in custody 25 times since 1995, many of which were for violent offences, the court was told.
In October 2016, he was jailed for four years and three months for assaulting a different former partner.
Reid, who has already served two years of his sentence, must spend three years and eight months in prison before applying for parole.
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