Bradford Crown Court heard how over a two-and-a-half-year period Jack Dawson regularly punched and kicked a woman, dragged her by the hair, and smashed furniture.
He also held a key to her face, threatening to stab her and to “take her eye out”.
Prosecutor Daniel Lee said Dawson, 29, of Smith House Avenue, Hove Edge, Brighouse, would also confiscate the woman’s mobile phone to prevent her calling for help, and lock the doors.
He would often threaten to kill himself during the attacks if he was asked to leave.
Relatives became concerned when they noticed large bruises on the arms of the victim, who had become unhappy and withdrawn.
Dawson’s violence became so extreme that the woman agreed a code word – a rose emoji – with a sister to indicate she needed support, and to call police.
In a statement read to the court the victim said she had been “beaten into silence for years” and had lived in “a constant brainwashing cycle of abuse”.
She described the violence she experienced as “a deep, dark secret I have kept for years”.
She said she needed counselling, was on medication, felt helpless, and feared for her life.
The court heard how Dawson was drinking in the Black Bull pub in Brighouse when he punched a man to the eye, causing multiple fractures.
The attack followed an incident late on December 15, 2023, in which a man and a woman, both colleagues out on a works gathering, had been dancing when Dawson attempted to pull the woman back onto the dancefloor as the group was about to leave.
Mr Lee said there were no signs of any trouble at that point but later as the man stood by the pub’s entrance he felt “a massive thud” to his face causing him to see a bright flash and ringing in his ears that left him feeling extremely disorientated and confused.
Dawson had punched the man to the face, who walked outside dazed and in extreme discomfort and pain. He was taken home in a taxi by a colleague.
Scans taken at the hospital revealed fractures to the eye socket that had caused fragments of bone to push into the muscle, as well as a broken nose.
In an interview with police Dawson said he believed he acted reasonably as the victim had said he was “going to murder everybody” and he tried to get the man off the woman.
In a statement, the victim said he had suffered from anxiety, stress, and sleepless nights, and had suffered flashbacks to the attack that left him paranoid and fearful of socialising.
Dawson initially denied the charges against him but later pleaded guilty to controlling and coercive behaviour and causing grievous bodily harm.
He also admitted taking cocaine up to three times a week.
Mitigating, Camille Morland said Dawson began to use drink and illegal substances including cocaine and his behaviour “went downhill” because of that.
In relation to the attack in the pub, she said he thought he was going to the aid of a woman but “misread the situation entirely”.
In addition to a total of three years imprisonment, His Honour Judge Colin Burn made Dawson subject to a 10-year restraining order against his female victim.