A MAN assaulted his partner and drove her to an isolated spot where he attacked her and threatened to kill her and put her into a river.

The victim was able to get away, but was attacked again a few days later in Wrexham town centre.

Daniel Mountford, 23, of John Wilkinson Court in Brymbo, admitted kidnap, assault and theft and then a further assault upon the woman.

Mountford, who weeks earlier had asked her to marry him, was jailed for a total of 21 months.

Mold Crown Court heard how the victim had been in touch with him while he was on remand and they planned to rekindle their relationship.

Last November he and Natasha Jones were in a relationship, they needed to move house and wanted to borrow money from a relative of hers.

She refused because she was unhappy with the way Mountford was treating his partner.

“You took it out on Natasha Jones,” Judge Rhys Rowlands told the defendant.

On November 15 there was an incident at a petrol station where he demanded that she pay for fuel but she refused.

She started to walk away but he dragged her back into the car and punched her a number of times.

He then drove off with her in the back of the car and he said he was going to kill her and place her in the river.

Mountford drove to a remote spot, stopped the car, dragged her out and she was punched and kicked.

He then drove to a shop where he used her bank card to withdraw cash.

When they met by accident in Wrexham the following day he dragged her, pinned her down on a bench and slapped her.

He also bit her, using his teeth as a weapon. That had been captured on CCTV.

“This was bullying, repeated controlling behaviour,” Judge Rowlands said.

Barrister Simon Rogers, prosecuting, said the couple had been in a two year relationship.

In the weeks before the attack he had asked her to marry him but she refused because of the nature of the relationship and his alleged use of drugs.

On the morning of November 15, when the loan was refused, he drove off aggressively and the incident occurred at the petrol station at Chirk.

She refused to pay for the fuel, he tried to get her back into the vehicle, was aggressive and staff called the police.

Police contacted her but because she was frightened she said she was fine.

Mountford threw something at her, tried to drag her back into the car, she walked away and he drove after her.

When he located her, he dragged her into the vehicle against her will.

He pushed her into the back of the car, and started to punch her.

Mountford told her “action causes a reaction” and then, with her still in the back of the car, he drove down a country lane next to a stream.

She did not know where she was, he said he was going to kill her and put her in the river.

He punched her, dragged her out and assaulted her on the floor.

Mountford put her back into the vehicle and then drove to the Co-op in Gobowen where he took £160 out of her account.

He pinned her against a gate and she ended up walking to Oswestry.

On November 20 he saw her in Wrexham, held her down on a bench by the neck and bit her to the right hand.

CCTV showed him grabbing her by the hair and dragging her and prevented her from getting up.

Arrested, he was agitated and erratic and claimed her grabbed her in the petrol station because of an approaching car, but that was disproved by CCTV.

In a victim impact statement Miss Jones said she was struggling emotionally, had dreams about what he had done to her and wanted a restraining order.

But that situation had now changed and she had written a letter to the court, said Mr Rogers.

Andrew Green, defending, said Mountford's behaviour was inexcusable and no-one should be treated in such a way.

He did not wish to put forward any excuses and was very sorry for what had happened.

In her letter Miss Jones confirmed the relationship was normally a good one.

She cared for him deeply, normally he was a loving and caring person and they wished to make a go of it.

A letter from Mountford's mother showed how he had struggled with his mental health.

He had self-medicated on drugs which had affected his behaviour.

The court heard that while in custody Mountford had decided to take no more drugs.

He took the view that they had ruined his life and caused him to push away those he cared for.

Mr Green said he was a polite and engaging young man who had completed courses while in custody and there was “cause for optimism”.