An obsessed Iranian man who was regularly violent to his girlfriend has been jailed.

Rahim Hamidzada, 38, was convicted of two charges of common assault and one of causing actual bodily harm to his girlfriend at her flat in Little Germany, Bradford.

But Recorder David Hatton QC said the offences represented a course of conduct during the relationship.

Sentencing him to 15 months in prison for the assaults, Recorder Hatton told Hamidzada he had sought to dominate and control the 28-year-old woman.

The judge said: “You were obsessed with her past. You were jealous and you were mistrusting. When you didn’t get the answers you wanted from her, or were unhappy with her responses, you resorted to violence.

“It was a relationship in which you were arrogant, domineering and obsessive.”

Prosecutor Paul Nicholson told Bradford Crown Court the couple met at the Fitness First gym in Eccleshill. They began a relationship in May 2008 but it deteriorated and he began using violence.

In the September they argued about her past and he pushed her off the bed. She landed on a bookcase and suffered bruising. Two months later they again argued and he kicked her in the hip, causing bruising.

The most serious assault took place in October when Hamidzada slapped her nine times in the face, dragged her by her hair and repeatedly kicked her. She suffered a black eye, bruising and swelling.

Charlotte Worsley, mitigating, said no lasting injuries were caused in the most serious assault, which was not pre-meditated.

Recorder Hatton said the victim had put up with Hamidzada’s conduct for so long because she loved him and hoped he would reciprocate.

But the judge added: “You didn’t love her. You simply used her and abused her.”

He jailed Hamidzada for a further two months for breach of bail.