A STOURBRIDGE martial arts expert who left a police officer fearing for his life when he grabbed him in a specialist headlock has been locked up for a year.

Bobby Mason who was also described as a bare knuckle fighter lost his temper when the officer turned up at his home with a colleague to arrest him for an earlier assault on his partner.

Judge Dean Kershaw told the 39-year-old father of two: "You are trained on how to hold people by the neck to the point of submission, the officer genuinely believed his life could be extinguished."

He said filmed footage of the incident was "troubling" adding: "This was a sustained attack because you got this officer in a headlock.

"But I will sentence you on the basis you were going to let him go before he was unconscious. You are clearly

someone who has trouble controlling his temper."

The police constable went to Mason's home in Oak Park Road after his partner complained he had grabbed her hard round the throat after they had both been drinking.

The officer went to arrest Mason, who was a mixed martial artist but there was a struggle and he was grabbed in a headlock.

The constable later said he felt he could have died and when he reflected on the incident he was left feeling he might have done better to take Mason into custody.

Nicole Steers, for Mason, told Wolverhampton Crown Court her client accepted the police officer could have been hurt having struggled to understand the details of the reported assault on his partner.

She said Mason who had also used cocaine before the incident was someone who had specialist training in how to incapacitate someone and "sadly he lost his temper."

Mason admitted assaulting the police officer causing him actual bodily harm and also common assault on his partner.

The judge ruled only immediate custody was appropriate for the crimes adding: "The police officers could not have

been more polite to you when they arrived at your home."

He said they explained why they were there and it was the attitude of Mason that put everyone on edge. It was an incident, he went on, that escalated very quickly.

This officer was there to do his lawful job and he is entitled to expect he will not be met with violence, said the judge.