South Wales Echo

Man dragged partner by hair and broke her ribs in assault

A JEALOUS man subjected his partner to a “prolonged and persistent assault” during which he dragged her by her hair and broke her ribs.

Jamie Thomas pleaded guilty to several attacks on his girlfriend throughout their relationsh­ip.

Sending the 30-year-old to jail at a sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday, the judge said the evidence presented “abuse to an appalling extent” against his partner.

The court heard Thomas, from Snowden Road, Ely, Cardiff, also had a history of violence against partners.

In a powerful victim statement read to the court, the victim said the abusive relationsh­ip drove her to selfharm.

Prosecutio­n barrister Ruth Smith told the court Thomas and the victim had been in a relationsh­ip for fourand-a-half years but the defendant’s conduct had “deteriorat­ed” in the last two years of the relationsh­ip.

The pair separated in October 2022 due to this, but reconciled in January 2023. The first violent incident brought before the court occurred on January 27, 2023, when the pair went away for the night.

The court heard how, while the victim was undressing, the defendant made sexually violent comments about what he would like to do, before going on to try to do so.

When the victim rejected this, in an act the judge called “inexplicab­le”, Thomas bit her hard on her left breast.

In pain, the victim told him to “get off you’re hurting me”. Despite her shock, Thomas laughed in response.

The victim retreated to the corner of the room to put distance between them and the defendant fell asleep.

In the following days, as a large blackening bruise appeared on the victim’s left breast, she showed Thomas who acknowledg­ed it but made no apology. The victim did not seek medical attention because she was embarrasse­d.

In March, the victim attended Thomas’ home after being out with her friends. While there, the pair discussed the nature of the relationsh­ip in the kitchen with Thomas acknowledg­ing the relationsh­ip had ended at this point but the victim “was his” and he “didn’t want to see her with anyone else”.

She then fell asleep in the living room before waking up to Thomas “smashing” her phone after seeing she had been communicat­ing with another man.

Thomas then started “ragging” her off the sofa before gripping her and seizing her by the hair.

The victim tried to leave but he pushed her into the corner of the room.

He then gripped her by her hair and dragged her into the hallway. At the same time he was hurling abuse at her.

She tried to run upstairs to escape him but he again gripped her and pulled her back.

The abuse cumulated when he punched her twice to her ribs area, causing to her to collapse to the floor and start sobbing.

The court heard she was crying “you’ve hurt me” but the defendant showed little remorse.

It was only when she finally escaped and started walking home that he started texting apologies and saying that he “loved her”.

The following day the victim was in “excruciati­ng pain” and “could not raise her arm”.

She attended hospital on March 12 but after being there for four hours without being seen, she left.

She returned the next day and an X-ray showed she had fractures to two ribs.

About a week later, the pair spent a night at the Celtic Manor to celebrate the defendant’s birthday.

The court heard that throughout the evening, the defendant was described as in a “bad mood” and was drinking and scrolling through his phone.

At one point, he “gripped her hair” causing her pain and slapped her across her face causing it to redden and a recent ear piercing to start bleeding.

He also pushed her which led her to fall on her broken ribs, which caused her to “cry” and say “you know I have broken ribs”.

The following day as the pair were driving home, the defendant “continued to be angry and shouted abuse” at the victim, again making her cry.

After this incident, there was intermitte­nt contact between the pair but they only saw each other on one occasion.

On May 23, the defendant was texting the victim to meet up and instigate a reconcilia­tion. She did drive to the local shops to meet him but on arrival refused to leave the car because she was so frightened.

The court heard how the defendant then punched the bonnet of the car as well as its wing mirror.

He also threatened her verbally with “every time I see you I am going to f**k you up”.

As well as these charges of abuse, the court heard the defendant also put several abusive comments on social media and shared private informatio­n about the victim and her family. He was arrested on June 7.

As she faced her abuser in court, the victim read out a powerful statement detailing how the attacks had impacted her life.

She said she “would describe the relationsh­ip as abusive” and she now “cannot sleep” and has “nightmares” due to Thomas.

She said she is “suffering from disassocia­tion, I do not feel connected to the real world”.

She detailed how the violent incidents had a “negative effect on my mental health” and she had lost a significan­t mount of weight due to suffering with anxiety.

She shared how she had also selfharmed during the relationsh­ip due to its detrimenta­l nature. She said she is “constantly reliving” the attacks and is having panic attacks.

Detailing the physical scars left, she said she now has scar tissue on her breast as a result of the bite and she is receiving medical attention for this and is “concerned” about it.

She said she is also having ongoing difficulty with her ribs and complicati­ons from this for which she is receiving treatment.

The victim said she constantly feels “scared he is out there and can cause me further harm”.

“I believe this incident will affect me for the rest of my life.”

In mitigation, defence counsel Lowri Wynn Morgan asked for credit for Thomas’ guilty pleas and emphasised how the jail term would impact his two young children for whom he has sole custody.

She said the defendant had depression and was at the time “suffering difficulty with cocaine.”

Sending him to jail, Judge Crowther said that the incidents indicated “abuse to an appalling extent”.

She said the incident where the defendant caused what she described as a “huge” bruise to the victim’s breast was “inexplicab­le” and caused an “extremely unpleasant injury”.

She said the attack in his home indicated he was “possessive and jealous” and that she was satisfied it qualified as a “prolonged and persistent assault”.

She said the attacks were “the act of a coward”.

Thomas was sentenced to three years and three months’ imprisonme­nt for a count of assault by beating. He was also sentenced to 18 months to run concurrent­ly for assault by occasionin­g actual bodily harm, and two months to also run concurrent­ly for the instance where he slapped the victim.

He was sentenced to two onemonth sentences for malicious communicat­ion and for criminal damage.

He will serve half of his total sentence in custody before he will be released on licence.

He was also made the subject of a 10-year restrainin­g order.

If you, a family member, a friend, or someone you are concerned about has experience­d domestic abuse or sexual violence, you can contact the Live Fear Free Helpline 24 hours a day seven days a week for free advice and support or to talk through your options. Ring 0808 801 08 00.