A man spat at his partner every time he read a message on her phone he did not like, a court has heard.

The victim was in a relationship with Luke Alía, 28, and had been out with friends in Great Yarmouth weeks after giving birth to their son.

Norwich Crown Court heard Alia had been trying to get hold of the victim and sent her a number of text messages which contained threats such as “I’m going to kill you, you little liar”, “I will smack you up” and “No joke, ring me now”.

Unyime Davies, prosecuting, said Alia was determined to know who she was out with, where she was and what she was doing and threatened to go to her mother’s house if she did not respond to him.

The court heard she agreed to meet up with him at the Star Hotel in Great Yarmouth as “she was scared of what he might do”.

After getting to the hotel he demanded to see her phone, but she refused.

Miss Davies said she was hit in the face by Alia who “slapped her around the head until she gave it to him”.

After getting her phone and the passcode he “spat in her face every time he saw messages he didn't like".

At about 7am he made a call to his partner’s sister asking to bring the baby.

Following the incident, on November 15 2019, Alia, of St John’s Road, Belton, appeared at court on Wednesday, March 3 for sentence having admitted a malicious communications offence and battery.

John Morgans, mitigating for Alia, who has 17 previous convictions for 32 offences, conceded the messages were unpleasant but insisted the most serious part of the offending was the violence.

But he also said the offending went back to 2019 and that he had made admissions to what happened.

Alia was sentenced to six months in prison suspended for two years by Judge Stephen Holt.

He was also ordered to do up to 30 days rehabilitation activity requirement (RAR).