A bedbound woman with dwarfism faced being thrown from a window by her abusive boyfriend after he accused her of being lazy.

“Terrifying” Ian Sherringham, of Ramsgate, also wheeled Tracey West’s bed out of reach of vital medication, confiscated her lifeline alarm and called her “useless”.

The 42-year-old, who subjected Miss West to years of abuse, was handed a suspended prison sentence at Canterbury Crown Court.

Miss West, who attended the hearing from bed remotely, said Sherringham’s abuse made her “terrified” after losing the ability to walk.

“Before I became bedbound I was able to walk - even if I moved to the kitchen he would make me tell him where I was going and what I was doing,” she said.

She said Sherringham’s aggression “became worse when I became bedbound” because “I couldn’t get away from him.”

He would also make her “feel horrible” while fearing he “would use violence against me”.

The court heard Sherringham coerced her between 2018-2020 by making abusive threats and controlling her phone and who she could talk to.

He also took her lifeline alarm system and moved her bed.

“The bed must be next to the wall so she has access to water and medication,” prosecutor Henriette Kaerger said.

Sherringham was arrested after Miss West told carers he accused her of being lazy and “threatened to throw her out the window,” Ms Kaerger said.

A subsequent police probe revealed Sherringham was taking away the lifeline alarm from around her neck, as well as keeping hold of her mobile phone during weekends.

The court heard Sherringham dictated what she could say to carers, removed friends from her Facebook account and ordered her “not to speak to family members”.

Sherringham, who has three previous convictions from three offences, had assaulted an ex-partner by “banging her head against a wall,” the court heard.

He pleaded guilty to controlling and coercive behaviour before trial.

Emin Kandola, mitigating, explained that Sherringham - who has lived with learning difficulties, ADHD and autism - was "terrified" of going to prison given his specialist care needs.

Sherringham, who himself requires a carer, also has borderline dissociative disorder, Miss Kandola added.

Handing down 20 months in prison suspended for 20 months, Judge Catherine Brown told Sherringham his abuse “at times was intended to humiliate and degrade”.

But she said she “can and should” suspend the sentence after forming the conclusion there was a “real prospect of rehabilitation”.

Judge Brown told Sherringham on Thursday that if she locked him up immediately, probation would not be able to work closely with him to address destructive behaviour and protect future partners.

She handed Sherringham, of Wellington Crescent, a five-year restraining order, 30 probation rehabilitation days and a place on the building better relationships programme.