A controlling boyfriend who abused his girlfriend and used her thumb to unlock her iPhone as she slept has been spared jail after a judge told him "There's lots more fishes in the sea".
During a campaign of abuse, Alexander Heavens, 24, punched Stacey Booth in the face, trampled on her, bit her on the arm and bent her fingers back so far that she thought they might break, a court heard.
When she found messages suggesting he was seeing someone else, he grabbed a knife and held it to his stomach, leaving her afraid he would use it on her or himself, the court was told.
On one occasion he waited until Miss Booth, 24, had nodded off before gaining access to texts and emails on her phone to find out if she was dating other men.
As the couple lay on her bed, Heavens placed Miss Booth's thumbprint on the iPhone's home button, checked her messages and then woke her up to interrogate her throughout the night.
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At Manchester Crown Court, Heavens admitted engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour in an intimate relationship but he escaped with a 12 month community order after blaming his offending on drinking too much and snorting cocaine.
Sentencing had been deferred for six months last November to give him a chance to give up alcohol and drugs and hold down his job in the demolition industry.
Heavens, from Failsworth, near Oldham, Greater Manchester, is also currently banned from contacting Miss Booth under the terms of a restraining order.
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Judge Martin Rudland told him: "I don't know what was going on in your life. Your relationship for some time had been good but it came crashing down in a rather dreadful way and I have no doubt the drinks and drugs played their part upon your behaviour towards her.
"However you have really made sound efforts to change that and I suspect you feel better for it.
"Everybody is entitled to a second chance and you have used the opportunity to show the court that you can make something of yourself. I set you that task to see whether you could do that.
"Rather than go back, you showed that you didn't let the court down and you have shown you can adjust your lifestyle.
"If there is any further trouble you will be back before me, that's the last thing I want and the last thing you want.
"Put this behind you, put her behind you, there are lots more fishes in the sea and watch how you go."
At a previous hearing the court heard the couple had been dating for six years but their relationship soured in Christmas 2016 after Heavens suffered bouts of paranoia due to his cocaine use.
Prosecutor Rob Smith said: "Miss Booth said he always had issues with his temper but had never taken things out on her. She said things started to change when he met new friends in November 2016. He began spending time with these new friends and subsequently taking drugs.
"He started taking his anger out on her and was paranoid about her actions. The first incident in 2016, the defendant became angry because she was spending time with her family rather than him.
"They rowed about it and he kept arguing with her about it until he bit her and bruised her upper arm.
"After 2017 his behaviour worsened with her, particularly when he alleged that she had been with other men. During arguments, he began bending her fingers back so far that she thought they were going to break.
"When she was asleep he would grab her finger and use it to unlock her phone as it had her fingerprint ID code. He used this to check her phone messages and go through her contacts."
Mr Smith added: "He would wake her up and ask who everyone was and keep her up all night. Her work became affected and she became sleep deprived.
"On one occasion she was going to sleep when he asked her a question about something on her phone, and when he didn't get a reply he punched her in the face. She remembers being pushed to the kitchen floor, stood on and trampled on.
"He called her on another occasion whilst she was in bed and woke her up asking for her pin code to gain access to her phone. One morning she woke to find him watching pornography on her phone, which he had been doing all night."
The court heard that in March 2017 Miss Booth found messages suggesting Heavens was seeing someone else.
Mr Smith said: "When he responded to her he began screeching at her, ran to the kitchen and he got hold of a knife and held it to his stomach.
"She tried to calm him down but he was continuing to shout at her so she decided to leave.
"She was worried he would use the knife on her or himself.
"After this he continued getting angry with her and his behaviour worsened even more to the point that whenever she said something he didn't like, he punched her twice to the face.
"She decided she had enough, she said she was shattered and ended the relationship on her birthday in October 2017.
"When he was arrested he denied all allegations and said it made him laugh to say he was controlling as he had never lay a finger on her."
In a statement Miss Booth said: "I have always tried to help him but he has responded with abuse both physically and mentally.
"He sent numerous messages, he visited me at home and he would always call me when I was with my family.
"I do not feel able to change my routine and the whole relationship felt normal at the time, but I now realise it was not normal at all."
In mitigation, defence lawyer Stuart Duke said: "He has no interest in this young lady. Time has been a great healer in this case.
"I don't think he needs unpaid work as he is working hard anyway - he works full time.
"This a about understanding, he has done a lot of internal work".
