At Londonderry Magistrates Court, Judge Barney McElholm severely criticised laws dating from 1861 as he was sentencing a 27-year-old man after handing him a five month sentence suspended for three years.

“If this was in the USA he would be going to jail for a minimum of 15 years for choking this lady. There is quite an unacceptable gap in our legislation with regard to these offences,” the judge said.

“Choking is prosecuted as an assault, and that is woefully inadequate and it only exists in legislation in some obscure reference in the 1861 Offences Against The Person Act. The maximum sentence is six months, which is wholly inadequate and inappropriate.

“The time has long passed when specific offences like this which involve choking, smothering and strangulation should be brought as indictable-only offences.”

Jan Melia, the CEO of Women’s Aid Federation Northern Ireland, said it was shocking that the courts had to treat this crime as assault.

“If an abuser chokes or smothers his victim, it is very likely that he will go on to cause further serious harm to that victim,” she told the Belfast Telegraph.

“It has also been proven that non-fatal strangulation is a strong predictor of future domestic homicide. Given that two women per week are killed by a male partner or ex-partner in the UK, it is shocking that the courts are forced to treat this kind of crime as mere assault.”

The man admitted assaulting his former partner by spitting in her face, throwing her to the floor, pulling her hair and also grabbing her by the throat.

Stephen Chapman, counsel for the man, who had no previous convictions, said: “He made a terrible mistake this night and he has resolved not to do it again.”