A ‘manipulative’ thug used his girlfriend ‘as an ashtray’ by putting a cigarette out on her during a ‘prolonged and sadistic attack’ in a hotel room.

Mark Harrop, 38, from Barrow also used the woman as a ‘punching bag’ during the terrifying ordeal, at the Britannia Airport Hotel in Northenden, south Manchester.

The pair had travelled to the hotel for a ‘tryst’, before Harrop launched the attack in the early hours, Manchester Crown Court heard.

Harrop became angry after the victim ‘innocuously’ mentioned she had bought some cannabis previously.

He began to punch her and said: “If I think you are lying, I’m going to hit you.”

Harrop threatened to throw her out of the window of their third floor room, and did throw her phone out.

She suffered three cigarette burns to her arm, and remembered Harrop asking her: “How does that feel, having a cigarette put out on you?”

The judge, Recorder Michael Maher, said Harrop had ‘effectively used her as an ashtray’.

Harrop fled, and the woman desperately began knocking on doors of other rooms until someone answered and raised the alarm.

Now Harrop has been declared ‘dangerous’, and handed an extended prison term. He was also sentenced for a ‘campaign’ of burglaries at commercial premises in north Wales, including the ransacking of a charity shop.

Prosecutors said that Harrop, who was born in Manchester, had travelled to the city from Barrow, Cumbria, to meet his girlfriend, who was from the north-east.

The court heard that Harrop was ‘controlling’ and had shown traits of ‘obsessive jealousy’.

They went to the hotel on July 22 last year, had sex, and both parties drank vodka and used crack cocaine.

Harrop became angry after she mentioned buying cannabis, and began punching her to the face.

She tried to escape but Harrop continued and kicked her in the genitals.

Harrop held broken glass to her face and said: “Keep going on and I’ll kill you.”

He threatened to throw her out of the window, and threw her phone out.

The ordeal ended when Harrop left to go ‘for a smoke’.

His victim began knocking on doors to get help before a man eventually answered and assisted her.

Harrop was arrested two days later after he had returned to Barrow.

The woman suffered multiple injuries to her face and arms and a fractured eye socket, the court heard.

Bob Elias, prosecuting, described the attack as ‘prolonged and sadistic’ and added: “She was beaten severely.”

In a statement, the victim said: “I still can’t get over what happened to me.”

The court heard that Harrop, who the judge described as being ‘controlling and manipulative’, has previous convictions for violence against former partners.

Kay Driver, mitigating, said Harrop had a ‘difficult start in life’, and has experienced mental health problems.

She said Harrop ‘wasn’t used to using’ crack cocaine, and said he was ‘extremely ashamed’ of his behaviour.

Harrop ‘wants to address his behaviour’ and has sought help, Ms Driver said.

Sentencing, Recorder Maher told Harrop: “You used her as a punching bag in the early hours of the morning.

“You effectively used her as an ashtray. She was utterly terrified.”

Harrop also committed a ‘campaign’ of burglaries in north Wales between July and September 2019.

In what the judge described as a ‘particularly mean’ offence, Harrop admitted burgling a charity shop in Rhyl which was left ‘ransacked’.

A total of £241 had been stolen from a safe, and Harrop’s DNA was found at the scene.

Harrop also admitted burgling a coffee shop and an estate agency, before causing about £35,000 worth of loss during a burglary at a building firm.

A van was used to ram into some shutters and items of a sentimental value were stolen.

Overall, Harrop, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to one count of section 18 assault, four counts of burglary, and one count of aggravated vehicle taking.

He was handed an extended sentence comprising eight years in prison and an extended two-year licence period. Harrop will serve two-thirds of the eight-year term before the Parole Board decides whether he is safe to be released.