A 31-year-old Ammanford man grabbed his girlfriend by the throat and tried to throttle her after their pet dog woke him from a drunken snooze, a court has been told.

Adrian Taylor, of 55 Heol Llwchwr in Parcyrhun, admitted assaulting Lisa Jenkins by beating following the incident on June 16.

Llanelli magistrates were told how earlier in the evening Taylor had told Ms Jenkins he intended to go out for the evening with friends. In reality he had hidden away in the garden shed with eight bottles of beer.

“They had been together for two-and-a-half years and living together for the past year,” prosecutor Sian Vaughan told the court, “but things had not been good between them for some time.”

Ms Vaughan told the court that a row had broken out between the couple after Taylor had returned indoors. “When he came back into the house he was drunk,” Ms Vaughan said.

“He claimed to have little recollection of the incident apart from the dog trying to wake him up while he was sleeping.”

Ms Vaughan said that when Taylor threw a bottle of lemonade at the pet, Ms Jenkins stepped in to defend the animal and an argument erupted. “He put the dog outside said it could not come back in until the following morning,” said Ms Vaughan.

When Ms Jenkins disagreed, Taylor lost his temper. “He flipped a coffee table over, smashing a number of items,” said Ms Vaughan. “Ms Jenkins ended up on the floor with him standing over her shouting. He grabbed her by the throat. She was unable to breathe, but she eventually managed to escape from his grasp.”

Magistrates told Taylor the offence was so serious that he would be subjected to a six-month community order. He was also placed under six months supervision and ordered to take part in a 16-session Respectful Relationships course. He was also ordered to pay £85 courts costs and a further £60 legal surcharge.

Taylor was also ordered to pay Ms Jenkins £75 compensation for the injuries caused. The court was told that following the incident Taylor had decided to end the relationship.