A Winnipeg man caught on security video throwing a woman down a flight of stairs has been sentenced to four years in prison.

Fabian Twohearts, 49, pleaded guilty to simple assault for the 2015 attack. The maximum sentence for simple assault is five years.

An apartment security video provided to court showed Twohearts grabbing an unidentified woman from behind, lifting her up and throwing her down a stairwell. The video shows Twohearts appearing to talk to the apparently unconscious woman for a short time and then walking away. The woman then got to her feet and ran away.

"The act seen on the video cries out for denunciation and deterrence," said Judge Cynthia Devine. "It appears the victim was trying to fight you off and you picked her up like a rag doll ... In this case, a video really does speak a thousand words."

Twohearts has a lengthy history of violence, and according to a pre-sentence report prepared for court, is prone to acts of impulsive rage. In 2008, he was sentenced to seven years in prison after he doused his then girlfriend with a flammable liquid and set her on fire. The victim told police at the time Twohearts was upset after she rebuffed his demand for sex.

Devine rejected a defence recommendation Twohearts be sentenced to 10 months time served, saying he poses too much of a danger to the community. She said Twohearts has participated in multiple rehabilitative programs but has continued to reoffend.

"At this point, the type of supervision that would be required would be akin to forming a bubble around Mr. Twohearts because anytime there is a disappointment, anytime there is a bruise to his ego he violently erupts," Devine said. "Society cannot take that risk."