A man with a history of assaulting females was jailed for 18 months yesterday for bundling a woman into a taxi and detaining her against her will.

Delvin Ashely O'Brian Stevens, 33, was ordered to get help for his problem by Assistant Justice Norma Wade-Miller when he appeared before Supreme Court for sentencing.

He had previously been convicted of eight offences of violence - four of them against women. Stevens was accused of grabbing the woman, whom he had been in a relationship with, while she was staying at a friend's home in Spanish Point, and pushing her into a taxi before taking her to Cedar Park.

The court heard how he had arrived at the friend's home in the early hours during January of this year because he believed his girlfriend was there.

He is then said to have forced his way into the home, ordered his girlfriend to get dressed, and pulled the telephone lines out when she tried to call Police.

The court heard previously how he had hit and kicked the woman and continued to do so when she was crying.

Prosecutor Wayne Caines told the court that several times the woman tried to run away, but each time Stevens prevented her from doing so. He then bundled her into a taxi, and the taxi driver failed to assist her. It was also previously alleged that Stevens had briefly tried to choke the woman. Yesterday, Stevens only appeared in Supreme Court for sentencing on the charge of deprivation of liberty. He had pleaded guilty to the charge.

The married father-of-two, from Devonshire, had already pleaded guilty to charges of breaking and entering, assault and wilful damage in connection with the incident and had been sentenced in Magistrates' Court.

He received a year's jail sentence for each of the three charges, to run concurrently.

But Acting Senior Magistrate Carlisle Greaves sent Stevens to Supreme Court to be sentenced on the fourth charge. Mr. Caines asked Assistant Justice Wade-Miller to sentence Stevens to between three and five years. He said: “I think a clear message needs to be sent to this defendant. He has had the opportunity to reform, he has had every opportunity to pay fines and suspended sentences.

“Now it's time to pay the piper and you My Lady are the piper.

“Look more specifically at the people who should be protected and that's women in the community. We need to send a clear message to woman in our society that we need to protect them from people like this defendant.”

But in his defence, lawyer Victoria Pearman said, although she did not wish to claim that the offence was a minor one, she said not all cases of deprivation of liberty were equal.

She said this case was not as harsh as some others and she said only the issue of the deprivation of liberty had to be considered yesterday. The assault had already been dealt with.

“I'm not suggesting it was not serious. But we are talking about a taxi ride from Spanish Point to Cedar Park. Although my client went about it in all the wrong ways, he accepts that this court will punish him for that.'