Tobias King – Devon

A violent offender from Devon has been jailed for more than seven years after subjecting two women to assaults and sending sexually explicit images to multiple others.

Tobias King, 36, of no fixed abode, was the subject of a manhunt in 2025 after he repeatedly strangled and assaulted a woman at a Premier Inn in Honiton.

He left the victim unconscious before stealing her purse and phone.

King evaded police for nearly two weeks by staying in tents and hotels but was eventually caught after using a stolen bank card.

He pleaded guilty to strangulation, false imprisonment, threats to kill, actual bodily harm, and theft.

At his sentencing at Exeter Crown Court on September 9, the court heard that police were called to the hotel by the general manager after a woman with serious injuries arrived at reception in distress.

The victim had extensive bruising to her arms, neck, legs, face, and nose.

She told police she had been repeatedly assaulted and strangled until she lost consciousness.

In a statement, she said King told her he “had to kill her” and was “not going to prison for anyone.”

He fled the hotel around 3am, taking her phone and purse.

The assault left her with severe facial bruising and throat injuries that left her barely able to speak for months.

After his arrest, King was also charged with a similar assault on another woman in Bournemouth in late 2022.

He strangled her in a hotel room, and two weeks later attacked her again, throwing her onto a sofa and strangling her with both hands.

The following month, he sent her messages asking her to drop the case, along with sexually explicit videos.

King admitted two counts of intentional strangulation, one count of common assault, and one count of sending indecent images.

He also pleaded guilty to four counts of sending a photograph or film of genitals to cause alarm, distress, or humiliation.

Between January and October 2025, he sent unsolicited images of his genitals to several women using different phone numbers and social media accounts.

He also admitted sending explicit images and videos to a woman in Bristol in February 2021.

King was given an extended sentence of 10 years, including 88 months in custody.

He was also handed an indefinite restraining order against the two strangulation victims and placed on the Sex Offenders Register.