Shane Whitall, of 29 Carramar Crescent, Ulladulla, was charged with intimidating, assaulting and choking his then-girlfriend Laura Moxham in a series of incidents earlier this year.

Whitall, aged 29, plead guilty to all charges.

His defence lawyer said Whitall was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder, and was at risk of becoming institutionalised.

Whitall has been held in custody at least nine times over the past ten years.

On June 18, 2020, police were called to St George bank in Ulladulla, where they found Ms Moxham. Staff had locked her in a back room for her own safety.

Ms Moxham said Whitall had threatened to kill her and assaulted her after he saw her speak with her caseworker while sitting in the car, waiting for him to return from the bank.

She said he told her "if you try and get out [of the car] "I'll fucken skull drag you around this fucken town like a rag doll".

Ms Moxham got out of the car and ran into the bank for help.

She said Whitall had committed a number of other assaults against her over past weeks, and that he had once choked her. She showed police a laceration on the side of her neck, and said Whitall had also threatened to kill her.

The offences were committed while Whitall was on an Interim Community Order when he committed the offences.

The magistrate described the attack as "brutal and cowardly".

"A person cannot chose whether they have a mental illness, but they can choose to take drugs," he said.

"[Whitall] is a repeat domestic violence offender and such persons should be treated with deterrence."

He sentence Whitall to an aggregate sentence of 36 months, with a 24-month non-parole period.