A “NASTY drunk” who strangled and threatened to kill his partner must wear a bracelet which monitors his alcohol levels - and pay her £4,000 in compensation.

Oliver Hicks has insisted he is determined to make amends for his vile harassment and assault of a woman in Southend during their short relationship.

The 19-year-old of Crowstone Road, Westcliff, confessed that “he was probably drunk for all of that relationship”, which lasted from summer 2020 to May this year.

Hicks first strangled the woman in July 2020, putting her head over the kitchen sink and hitting her head on the tap.

He banged his forehead against hers five times in September, and grabbed the steering wheel of the car when she was driving causing it to veer and putting their lives in danger.

On May 2 this year he threatened to kill the woman, and when she fled into her car for safety, he ripped off a door handle and smashed the window.

At Hicks’ sentencing at Basildon Crown Court, the victim revealed in a statement she has had to be signed off work due to the stress.

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She said: “I have now been spending money to try to make me feel better about my life. I’ve been signed off work since the incident in this case.

“I’ve started to have panic attacks in the run up to the sentencing hearing. In four months life has not got any easier, I’ve been having flashbacks.”

Mitigating for Hicks, Lucy Sweetland said he has not used drugs since the incident and has been seeing a private therapist.

She said: “He wishes to apologise to her and has no excuse for his actions, but he is thinking of her and hopes she gets the support she needs.

“He said ‘I want to get back to being a good person and want to do anything to show that, no matter how hard it may be to come’.”

Judge Samantha Cohen told Hicks he was a “nasty drunk” with alcohol being the root of his offending.

She did however acknowledge he showed “genuine remorse”.

As part of Hicks’ suspended 22-month prison sentence, he must be under a four-month curfew from 8pm to 6am.

He must also go through 30 days rehabilitation, and wear the alcohol abstinence bracelet for six months.

Hicks must also pay the woman £4,000 in compensation within a month, and had an indefinite restraining order imposed against her.