A "MONSTER" whose coercive behaviour drove his girlfriend to try and kill herself has been jailed.

James McClure, 30, subjected the woman to mental torture through the first Covid lockdown and for months afterwards, York Crown Court heard.

In a victim personal statement, she said his jealous, controlling behaviour had made her feel that she "didn't deserve to live and everyone would be better off without her".

She survived, the court heard, because she was found by her stepfather and taken to hospital.

She wrote: "He said he did these things because he loved me, but he just loved to control me and watch me crying. I was completely dependent on him for everything."

But she finally managed to leave him and tell police what he was doing.

"I wouldn't have survived if it (the relationship) had continued," she said.

McClure of Forest Road, Pickering, pleaded guilty on the day he was due to stand trial to controlling and coercive behaviour towards the woman between March 28, 2020, and November 7, 2020.

He was jailed for 18 months and made subject to a seven-year restraining order banning him from contacting the woman or going to her home.

"You caused your victim to suffer mental anguish and mental torture," the Recorder of York, Judge Sean Morris, told him.

In her statement, the woman said of McClure: "He was completely charming, he was nice and understanding and seemed to like everything I did.

"He wanted the same things as me." But he changed.

Andrew Finlay, prosecuting, said the couple met online in early 2020 and McClure knew from the start she had mental health issues.

After a bit he moved into her home.

In March McClure began to control her relationship with her family and her life in other ways.

He had the Google locator on her phone turned on so that he could track everywhere she went and questioned her about what she was doing. He stopped her working in the care industry, which she loved, and when she walked with her father instead of with him, he threatened to slit her father's throat.

She fled to Nottinghamshire, but he deluged her with 400 messages until she agreed to return.

For McClure, Peter Minnikin said he had behaved out of character.

"For that period of time he turned into a monster", he said. He had been trying to look after the woman, but he had gone too far, said the defence solicitor advocate.

McClure had had a 13-year relationship with another woman and was currently in a relationship with a third, neither of which had problems, said Mr Minnikin.

The York-based charity Independent Domestic Abuse Service (IDAS) helps anyone suffering from or affected by domestic abuse of any kind including physical, emotional, psychological or sexual. It can be contacted via phone on 0808 2000 247 or 03000 110 110, email on info@idas.org.uk and its website is www.idas.org.uk