A Bristol man who 'terrorised' his Stroud partner over the course of four years has been jailed.

Grigore Nedelcu, 35, of Nelson Street, was found guilty of seven charges of controlling and coercive behaviour towards the woman, assaulting her and perverting the course of justice.

He has been jailed for six years and ten months after jurors unanimously found him guilty following a trial at Gloucester crown court.

Prosecutor James Tucker said Nedelcu had already pleaded guilty to one charge of assaulting the woman in a car in the presence of a child.

The victim made a statement in which she said: “I am scared what will happen if he catches up with me.

“I just want him to leave me alone so I can move on with my own life.

“Throughout our relationship I said yes to his demands because I didn’t know how far he would go if I said no.

“The abuse was often in public by humiliating me in front of strangers, family and friends.”

Charley Pattison defending said Nedelcu, a Romanian national, has been in the UK for nine years and had worked for most of that time. He currently suffers from a gambling addiction but since he has been remanded in custody he has begun addressing this issue, she said.

The Judge, Recorder Kate Brunner QC, said to Nedelcu: “Over a four year period you deliberately and systematically terrorised your victim and I do not use that term lightly.

“You made her feel that she brought this violence on herself. You 'gaslighted' her and made her doubt herself so much that everything was her fault.

“When she found the courage to tell the police what was going on, you stepped up your campaign. You pressured her to make complaints about the police by suggesting that they had put words in her mouth.

“She was reluctant to give evidence at your trial. A warrant had to be issued to bring her to court.

“You even controlled her from the dock whilst she was giving evidence. It was chilling to see.

“However she showed a lot of courage and told the jury what had happened to her.

The judge jailed Nedelcu for six years and 10 months and ordered him to pay a victim surcharge of £117. She also imposed an indefinite restraining order not to contact his victim, or any of her family members, or enter Stroud.