Thug punched girlfriend in the face and drove her to the brink of suicide to 'escape the misery'

A jealous and controlling thug made his girlfriend's life a 'living hell' as he subjected her to a relentless 'cycle of torment'. Josef Conlon, 27, was previously hauled before the courts and narrowly avoided jail for domestic violence against a former partner.

But the brush with the law failed to change his ways and now he has been locked up. "This type of behaviour is part of a pattern for you," Judge Tina Landale said during a hearing at Minshull Street Crown Court.

"It seems as though you believe you are entitled to treat women with whom you are having a relationship with gross disrespect, try to control them and use violence against them." Conlon, from Bury, subjected the woman in her 20s to a continuing 'cycle of torment', including violence, intimidation and possessive behaviour.

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He would 'interrogate' her and check her phone to see who she'd been in contact with, prosecutor Andrew Mackintosh said. Conlon smashed her phone after becoming angry at what he found.

The couple originally met in January 2018 and started a relationship a few months later, but Conlon quickly became abusive. She noticed her phone went missing, and Conlon would log on to check her phone and social media accounts.

Over their three year on-off relationship he assaulted her, and even used knives to intimidate and attack her. On one occasion Conlon started prodding her with a knife to her stomach which caused her to bleed.

He also punched her and hit her across the face, as well as sending abusive messages threatening to kill her. Eventually she had enough and applied to the courts for a non-molestation order, in a bid to stop Conlon's abuse.

But he