A DOMESTIC abuser who banned his girlfriend from wearing makeup, using social media and going to the toilet in public as well as attacking her, has been jailed.

Joshua Berenger, 25, of Wheatfield Way, Chelmsford received three years for coercive and controlling behaviour and 12 months for actual bodily harm, to run consecutively, at Ipswich Crown Court.

He was given a 10-year restraining order and will also serve a further year on licence.

Berenger met Elle Griffin, who was 18 at the time, in July 2017 and they started a relationship within a matter of weeks.

Between August 2017 until April 2018, he told her what to wear, he made her come off social media, checked her phone daily and controlled who she spoke to.

He had access to Elle’s phone and restored her old images before questioning her about them.

Elle was also told she could not wear jeans, crop tops, skirts, dresses and make up.

Berenger persistently asked her about former boyfriends and male friends and stopped her going to the toilet in restaurants because he believed Elle would get attention.

In April 2013 police were called after Berenger kicked her in the ribs and head after she refused to unlock her phone.

Following sentence, Elle said: “I was in a relationship with Joshua for almost 10 months and from a very early stage I was being controlled, manipulated, threatened and attacked every day.

“I kept the abuse to myself and it took Joshua putting me into hospital for me to call police and tell them. He was the scariest person imaginable and I believed there was no way out.

“I realised once I got help from police, family and friends, that I wasn’t alone. No matter how scary someone may seem to you, there is always a way out and they will get what they deserve in the end. Joshua is now in prison and I am living the life he took away from me. Speaking to someone is the first step to everything getting better.”