A WORCESTER man with a history of domestic violence and abuse against women has been jailed for 18 months and given a five-year anti-social behaviour order.

Paul Biddle, aged 32, appeared at Worcester Crown Court on Tuesday, October 15 where he pleaded guilty to harassment and common assault of an ex-partner.

Biddle is currently serving a prison sentence of four years for causing grievous bodily harm to an ex-partner when he broke her jaw in 2007.

While he was imprisoned in Hewell near Redditch in 2012 prison officers became aware he was harassing another ex-partner by phone. He was reported to have been threatening to kill or assault her when he was released, encouraging her to commit suicide and insulting her.

Between Monday, October 29 and Monday, December 10 2012 he made more 519 telephone calls lasting more than 1,000 minutes to the same woman.

When the woman visited him in prison on Wednesday, November 21 prison officers saw her hold out her hands when he told her, after which Biddle pushed his thumbnail into her palm so hard it bled. He claimed she had cut it on a drinks can.

The prison service raised the case with West Mercia Police who launched an investigation and charged Biddle with harassment and common assault.

Appearing before Judge Patrick Thomas QC, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison for the offences, including three months for the assault to run concurrently.

After an overnight deliberation Judge Thomas served Biddle with a five-year criminal anti-social behaviour order (CRASBO) on Tuesday, October 15, banning him from “abusing or threatening any woman physically or verbally”.

He said: "I have not seen a history as violent as yours for many years. You do not seem to understand that your behaviour is intimidating and that you are a coward, more importantly a bully.”

He warned that any further offences would result in a further jail term.

Detective Constable Joanne Sanders of the South Worcestershire Domestic Abuse Team investigated the case and called the sentencing “unprecedented”.

“It reflects the level of domestic abuse and violence Biddle hands out to women, who he treats with contempt,” she said. “He is very controlling – during the calls from prison he repeatedly told his victim: ‘If I didn’t love you I would not tell you these things.’

“Biddle has also treated the court process with disdain – he refused to attend court on four occasions, not only wasting court time but making the process more stressful for his victim.

“I hope this tough order from the judge will help protect women from Biddle. When he is released, he will also be subject to a multi-agency public protection agreement, where the police and our partners at the likes of the prison service and probation will monitor Biddle and any relationships he gets involved in.”