A MAN said “I’m going to kill you” before strangling a woman four times.

Darren Riley, 49, of Thornton, Bradford, was sentenced to 14 months in jail for the intentional strangulation of a woman, at Bradford Crown Court on Tuesday.

He pleaded guilty to the offence – which happened on September 29 this year in Preston Street - at an earlier hearing.

The victim – Riley’s ex-partner – believes the 49-year-old would have killed her had a passerby not intervened, the court heard.

Riley had already been convicted of assaulting the woman in October 2022 and was the subject of a restraining order in relation to her at the time of the strangling, as well as having previous convictions for violence.

Riley, the victim, and two other people had been on a day trip to Blackpool and were heading back to Bradford on the train, having been drinking, when the woman was “bullied” by the men.

Benjamin Bell, for the prosecution, said they called her names such as “s**g” and “b***h”.

The group then drank in Bradford, with the woman describing the others as being "drunk".

They went for a takeaway and Riley and others began being abusive again to the woman, calling her a “dog”.

The court heard she tried to distance herself and walk away but Riley followed her.

Mr Bell said Riley grabbed his former partner by the throat from behind and said “I’m going to kill you”.

He squeezed hard enough to impact her respiratory system and then strangled her three more times, according to the prosecutor.

The court heard Riley only stopped when an unknown man came across the pair and asked what he was doing, before calling the police.

Mr Bell said police arrived and the woman was “visibly upset and had red marks around her neck”.

Riley was nearby with a group of people and the victim pointed him out to officers.

The 49-year-old was arrested and then became abusive.

The court heard he said: “I’ll kill you, you little b***h, watch when I get out, I’m going to kill her.”

Mr Bell said, as part of a summary of the woman’s victim impact statement, after the incident she was crying and asking, “why me, what have I done for this to happen to me?”

Both Riley and his ex-partner lived in the same supported accommodation and she was “worried about that”.

They also have the same friendship group and she had become lonely as they “took his side”.

Eleanor Durdy, for the defence, said in mitigation that Riley has a “significant learning disability” and had a “traumatic childhood”.

He “suffers mostly with dyslexia and epilepsy” and this leads to him “having a very short temper”, but wants external help for that, according to his defence lawyer.

Ms Durdy said: “He’s quite comfortable in custody but he is bored”.

Recorder Catherine Silverton said in intentional strangulation cases only “exceptional circumstances” will prevent a defendant from being sent to jail immediately.

Alongside Riley’s prison term, the restraining order in relation to his former partner has been extended for five years.