A VIOLENT and manipulative man with links to Saltash has been jailed for more than seven years after subjecting two women to terrifying assaults and sending sexually explicit images to multiple women.

Tobias King, who is of no fixed abode, was handed an extended sentence after being convicted of a series of offences against women.

The 36-year-old became the subject of an extensive manhunt in 2025 after repeatedly strangling and seriously assaulting a woman at a hotel in Honiton. He left the victim unconscious in the room before stealing her purse and mobile phone, Exeter Crown Court heard.

King evaded police for almost two weeks by staying in tents and hotels before he was eventually caught after using a bank card he had stolen. He was remanded in custody and later pleaded guilty to strangulation, false imprisonment, threats to kill, actual bodily harm and theft.

At his sentencing hearing at Exeter Crown Court on Wednesday (September 9), the court heard how police were called by the general manager of the Premier Inn in Honiton at around 9am in late 2025.

A woman with significant injuries had arrived at reception in a distressed state and was asking for immediate assistance. She had extensive bruising to both arms, her neck, legs, face and nose.

The victim, who had been staying overnight at the hotel, told police she had been subjected to repeated physical assaults, including being strangled several times and losing consciousness on separate occasions.

In a statement to police, she described how each time she regained consciousness, the assault continued.

King also told her he “had to kill her” and that he was “not going to prison for anyone”.

He then took her mobile phone and purse before leaving the room and fleeing the hotel at around 3am. The assault left the woman with severe facial bruising and throat damage which meant she was barely able to speak for months.

After King was arrested, he was also charged with an outstanding serious assault against another woman in similar circumstances.

The attack happened in a Bournemouth hotel room in late 2022.

King put his hands around the woman’s neck and squeezed so hard that she could not breathe.

He attacked her again two weeks later, throwing her onto a sofa, hitting her on the head and strangling her with both hands, causing swelling and bruising.

The following month, he sent her social media messages asking her to drop the case against him, as well as sexually explicit videos.

King admitted two counts of intentional strangulation, common assault and sending indecent images to the victim. He also pleaded guilty to four counts of sending photographs or films of genitals with the intention of causing alarm, distress or humiliation.

Those offences involved several women who received unsolicited images of King’s genitals between January and October 2025 through different telephone numbers and social media platforms, despite being told to stop.

He also admitted sending unsolicited sexually explicit images and videos to a woman in Bristol by email and WhatsApp in February 2021.

King was handed an extended sentence of 10 years, including 88 months in custody. He was also given an indefinite restraining order preventing contact with the two women involved in the strangulation offences.

He will be required to sign the Sex Offenders Register and remain subject to notification and reporting requirements.

Detective Constable Nathan Ralph, of Devon and Cornwall Police, said the victims had shown “incredible bravery” throughout the investigation.