A CARPENTER handed himself in at a police station after sexually assaulting a woman and grabbing her by the throat, a court heard.

Drew Underwood admitted sexual assault and common assault at Bournemouth Crown Court and escaped a jail term when he was given a suspended sentence.

Stuart Ellacott, prosecuting, said the 35-year-old pulled the woman back by her hair and her head hit the wall as he shouted: “You’re not going anywhere.”

After she got away he grabbed her by the throat “and squeezed so hard that she couldn’t breathe and struck her in the face.”

When she screamed: “You’re suffocating me” he let go but sexually assaulted her, the court heard.

Robert Poulson, defending, said Underwood is a dad-of-three who surrendered himself to the police and asked what help he could get.

Underwood, of Corhampton Road, Bournemouth was given a six-month jail sentence for the sexual assault and four months for the common assault with both suspended for two years, with a supervision order.

Judge John Harrow ordered him to sign onto the sexual offences register for seven years and to pay £500 costs.