A SCOTSMAN who lied about being a traumatised ex-soldier has been jailed after he strangled his terrified partner - convincing her she was about to die.

When Peter Newman first appeared at Gloucester Crown Court in July he gave his military number and maintained he had suffered "dreadful experiences" as a paratrooper in Northern Ireland, Iraq, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone.

But his supposed military past and claim to suffer traumatic stress was a total sham, investigations have revealed.

Last Friday Aberdeen-born Newman, 35, of no fixed address, was back before the court after his lies had been exposed and he was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to assaulting Michelle Carter at her home in Dursley.

He also admitted a common assault on a 17 year old girl on the same date, June 13, this year.

The court heard that after the attack Ms Carter found an 'armoury' of knives, pickaxes and hammers hidden around her home, taped to the undersides of beds and other furniture

Newman - shaven headed with a long goatee beard and wearing a green t-shirt and camouflage trousers - was told by Judge Jamie Tabor QC: "Any strong man such as yourself putting his hands around the throat of a woman is going to cause her to think she is going to die. So I regard this offence very seriously indeed.

"I cannot give you full credit for your guilty pleas because you spun a story that you were a soldier and a member of the special services and the like.

"That caused the case to be held up for some time so your solicitor could verify your army record. We now know the truth is that you have never been near the army although I suspect you have a distinct interest in militaria, probably an unhealthy one."

At the original hearing defence lawyer Joe Maloney told the court: "My client joined the Army aged 16 and served as a paratrooper in Northern Ireland, the Balkans, Iraq, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan.

"He was medically discharged after some dreadful experiences."

But the prosecution told the court it had made checks and could find no record of Newman ever serving.

Newman did not back down - he quoted an army number which turned out to relate to someone born in 1933 and maintained he would be able to produce his discharge papers.

But he finally admitted on Friday that it was all make-believe.

Mr Maloney told the court then he had been fooled by Newman and added "This is a man who has some mental health issues. He is bi-polar."

Prosecutor Simon Goodman said Newman has previous convictions, all in Aberdeen Sheriff's Court.

"There are many assaults that go back to 2005. He was at the time of the Gloucestershire offence subject to the equivalent of a community order in Scotland."

Sentencing him, the judge also made a restraining order requiring him not to contact Michelle Carter or her parents in any way.

Mr Goodman had told the court Newman attacked Ms Carter in her own home, where he was then living, after he was woken up by a door slamming and then a cup being broken.

He lost his temper, grabbing Ms Carter by the throat several times, chopping at her throat with his hand and then punching her.

She managed to dial 999 but he grabbed at her throat again. Police arrived and arrested him and he claimed he could remember very little of the incident and would not knowingly have strangled her.

"He said that an assault on the throat was part of the techniques he had been taught in the military," said Mr Goodman.

He said Ms Carter was so badly affected that she has been unable to work and is suffering 'reactive stress.' She has been left with nasty marks on her neck.

Judge Tabor told Newman: "You have caused serious psychological harm to Michelle - she was obviously vulnerable and this was a sustained attack."