A TEENAGER who carried out "sustained" assaults on his victim in a Newport hotel room has been locked up for six years.

Cai Christopher bit, punched and scratched his victim while staying at the Premier Inn, in Chepstow Road, on May 20 this year.

His attack came after he had been drinking Bacardi rum, Cardiff Crown Court heard.

The next day, Christopher became "irrational" and talked about killing his victim, then picked up a belt with a metal buckle, using it to strike her in the head.

He then stood on his victim's head, chest and throat, and strangled her for at least 30 seconds, prosecution barrister Ieuan Bennett told the court.

Thinking she might "lose her life", the victim made an escape bid, fleeing barefoot through a fire exit and trying to attract the attention of members of the public. 

But Christopher caught up with her and "effectively dragged her back into the hotel".

Staff called the police, and when officers arrived Christopher – whom the court was informed has ADHD and had sought mental health support – told them he'd had a "turn" and there was "nothing to worry about", Mr Bennett said.

The police left, but later that day an ambulance was called to the hotel, and the victim was taken to the University Hospital of Wales, in Cardiff. 

There, she was found to have "a catalogue of injuries" including nine separate bite marks and "significant" bruising and scratching "from her face and head to ankle level".

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Christopher was then arrested by police. At a previous court appearance, he pleaded guilty to one charge of assault by penetration and two charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The court heard parts of a victim impact statement, in which she said the incident had "taken control of my life" and caused her to suffer panic attacks.

Eugene Egan, defending, said Christopher, 19, had no previous convictions and had "behaved in a totally unusual way" on the days of the offences. 

The defendant is a "highly vulnerable individual" whose own early childhood was "blighted by domestic violence", Mr Egan said. 

Passing sentence, Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke described Christopher's offences as an "appalling incident of sustained violence" that was "degrading and humiliating".

She sent Christopher, of Eton Place, Plymouth, to a young offenders' institution for a total of six years. He was also placed on the sexual offenders' register, and was made subject of a 10-year restraining order to not contact his victim.