A POCKLINGTON man who subjected his former partner to a violent assault in a York hotel is starting more than three years in jail today.

Gregory Goodall, 23, appeared at York Crown Court yesterday to be sentenced for assault occasioning actual bodily harm, after he pleaded guilty in the magistrates court.

Goodall, formerly of Gus Walker Drive, Pocklington, was branded a “cheap bully” by judge Recorder Simon Myerson, who sentenced him three years and four months in prison.

The court heard that on March 8 this year Goodall and his victim were in a hotel room on The Mount, York. There he punched and kicked her, banged her head against the floor, pulled out clumps of her hair, took off his leather belt and tightened it around her neck.

For Goodall, barrister Julia Harrow said her client did not accept the victim’s claims that their relationship had been controlling, but did realise he had a problem with drink, and had sought help in prison. She added: “He has expressed extreme remorse and his full of regret for his actions.”

The judge praised Goodall’s victim and her friends for their extraordinary composure as they watched the hearing from the public gallery.