A YOUNG mother fought back tears as she relived the day she was attacked by her former partner who had “brainwashed and gaslighted her.”

She was reading out her victim personal statement at Bradford Crown Court before Antonio Del Core was sentenced for assaulting her occasioning actual bodily harm.

The woman said she was “horrified and haunted” by the attack on April 8 last year in which she was poked in the eye, kicked and strangled by 27-year-old Del Core.

Labelling him “violent, oppressive and manipulative,” she said the “brutal beating” had left her shocked, numb and devastated.

Del Core, of Spring Avenue, Long Lee, Keighley, admitted the offence but the woman had to give evidence at an earlier court hearing because his basis of plea was not accepted.

He was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, with a community order that stipulated he attend the Building Better Relationships programme, carry out 20 rehabilitation activity days and do 200 hours of unpaid work.

A two-year restraining order bans him from contacting the woman or going to her home.

Prosecutor Paul Canfield said the attack took place at a house in Bradford when the victim was cooking a family meal in the late afternoon.

Del Core got frustrated when using internet banking and became abusive.

When he swore in front of a child, the woman tapped him on the head and he poked her in the eye. She screamed in pain, feeling the eyeball move.

She tried to get upstairs but he grabbed at her and kicked her on the leg.

When she reached the bedroom, Del Core pressed his weight against her and put his hands round her throat. He kicked her again, winding her after throwing her phone on the floor.

She suffered bruising to her neck, shoulder, abdomen and legs and an injury to her eye that caused pain, redness and temporary loss of vision.

In her statement, the woman said she had flashbacks of Del Core strangling her with “determination and force.” She feared she would die and “begged and begged for him to stop.”

“A home should be a safe place for me and it isn’t. I am permanently in survival mode,” she said.

She said she was “brainwashed and gaslighted,” during the relationship.

“I believe he is a malignant narcissist,” she told the court.

Del Core had previous convictions for assault occasioning actual bodily harm, battery, criminal damage and dangerous driving.  He had applied pressure to another former partner’s neck and driven at her, knocking her on to the car bonnet.

John Bottomley said in mitigation that Del Core, who worked as a chef, wanted to make a fresh start in another part of the country.

He was on medication for depression and accepted that he had issues with anger management that needed addressing.

Mr Bottomley said there was no medical evidence of the woman suffering any long-term mental health issues after the attack.

The judge, Recorder Weir QC, said Del Core had a history of abuse of a partner that had led to an earlier suspended sentence order.

He had great difficulty in coming to terms with what he had done, minimising his actions to his probation officer.

In a letter to the court, Del Core expressed deep regret for his actions and said he wanted to take courses to help with his anger.