A WOMAN beater who attacked and imprisoned his girlfriend left her so scared she built a panic room in her new flat.

Roger Collins, 52, appeared in Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday, after assaulting and imprisoning his former partner, Diane Morris, in her Orford home.

Collins, from St Helens, became furious on September 3 about what he perceived was an insufficient amount of money his girlfriend had transferred for his dead brother's memorial.

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The court heard how he yelled: "I could stab you if I wanted to" before smothering the woman with a pillow belonging to her deceased dad and punching her in the face.

Prosecutor Paulinus Barnes said Collins then followed his partner downstairs as she fled, locking the front and back doors, removing the keys, and confiscating her mobile phone.

The victim was left imprisoned in her own home for several hours, the court heard.

The alarm was only raised when the woman's son turned up at the home.

Collins, it was heard, has a past of attacking women, with three previous assaults on two past girlfriends.

In 2012, he was cautioned for battery after punching his partner in the chest, while four years later, he was handed a conditional discharge for another battery, this time grabbing a different victim and pulling her hair.

In the same year, 2016, he shoved the same girlfriend into a wheelie bin, slapped her and grabbed her by the throat.

Collins has since moved to Oswestry, north Wales, where he is in a relationship with a new woman.

In a victim impact statement read in court, Diane Morris said she sustained soft tissue damage, with bruising and soreness to her jaw and forearm.

Her right hand and index finger was also left swollen.

She was given tablets for anxiety and depression, was admitted to hospital with high blood pressure and underwent heart monitor checks.

The Warrington woman has moved to a new ground floor flat and asked for extra locks to be put on the doors and windows.

Her dad's pillow, once seen as a source of 'comfort' is now tainted, she said.

The court heard how she rarely goes out, has become introverted and no longer enjoys being around people.

She instead has video chats with her family and created a panic room in a cupboard.

Simon Christie, defending, said Collins 'had no illusions of his past' and was seeking help for anger management issues.

Judge Gary Woodhall jailed Collins, who was found guilty of false imprisonment and actual bodily harm after a trial, for 18 months.

Judge Woodhall told Collins: "Ms Morris was left in a terrible state, her own home had become a place where she didn't feel secure and safe.

"You do continue to have a risk of danger to partners."

He also slammed Collins for his 'complete lack of remorse' and his attempts to claim he had acted in self-defence.

He added: "You experienced a traumatic event at a young age of the death of your brother, but that does not excuse the way you behaved."

A restraining order, to run for six years, was imposed.