A man who styled himself as The Joker has been cleared of attempted murder against his ex-partner who we referred to as his "Harley Quinn".

Anthony Yewman, from Romford in Essex, was acquitted by a jury of two charges of intentional strangulation while a further count of attempted grievous bodily harm was withdrawn at Southampton Crown Court.

The 45-year-old has been given a 10-year restraining order against his ex-partner, Jennifer Dalton.

This comes after it was reported that prosecutors allege Anthony left the victim - who he described as his "soulmate" - "helpless, vulnerable and scared'" after strangling her until she passed out, before seeing her wake up and telling her he'd "finish you off" and kill himself with his Stanley knife.   

Anthony Yewman made a pillow with pictures of The Joker and his then-girlfriend's face on it, the court was toldAnthony Yewman made a pillow with pictures of The Joker and his then-girlfriend's face on it, the court was told (Image: Hampshire Police)

The trial heard that the pair had an “on-off” relationship for about two years but after Ms Dalton ended it, Yewman became “obsessed” with her and “stalked” her by “camping out” in the garden of her home in Fordingbridge, for a number of days.

But Yewman had denied assaulting Ms Dalton and he told police in interview that he had not meant to hurt Ms Dalton but had acted in self- defence and had only “retaliated after she grabbed him”.

Yewman had added: “I love her more than anything in the world.”

The Joker features as the nemesis of Batman in the cartoon and movies with Harley Quinn being the villain’s girlfriend.