A MAN has been jailed for threatening to fire bomb the house of his former partner’s mother.

Graeme Farr also punched Tina Lewis, his former partner, during the argument at her flat in Kingsclere, and put his hands over her mouth when she tried to scream out for help.

Farr, of Longford Avenue, Feltham, Middlesex, was in the dock at Winchester Crown Court having admitted assault by beating and threatening behaviour.

The 32-year-old had been staying with Miss Lewis in her one-bedroom flat towards the end of last year, despite the break-up of their two-and-a-half-year relationship, the court heard.

Jane Terry, prosecuting, said Miss Lewis was letting him stay while Farr, the father of her child, found somewhere else to live.

But he became angry with jealousy on November 19 last year, stopping her and punching her on the leg when she tried to leave to meet a male friend, the court heard.

Miss Terry said: “He then threatened to petrol bomb her mother’s house and took her mobile phone to prevent her from calling the police.

“Miss Lewis said she screamed, and he put his hands over her mouth before letting go.”

The court heard that Miss Lewis was so shocked by Farr’s behaviour that she had a panic attack. When she calmed down, he returned her mobile phone, and she texted her mother who contacted the police.

Andrew Keogh, defending, said Farr had pleaded guilty to the offence at the earliest opportunity, and that Farr and his relationship with Miss Lewis were “problematic”.

Miss Terry added that since Farr’s arrest, Miss Lewis wrote a “statement of retraction” about the offence, saying it “did not seem as serious as she felt at the time”.

But Recorder Marcus Tregilgas-Davey said such letters were “far from unusual” in domestic violence cases.

Sentencing him to 12 months imprisonment, the judge added: “If you are foolish enough to repeat this sort of behaviour in your future interaction with Miss Lewis, inevitably it will result in longer and longer sentences.”