A THUG who carried out a "reprehensible" assault on his then-partner has been spared jail. 

Steven Evans, of Ogwen Terrace in Bethesda, appeared for sentence at Caernarfon Crown Court on Friday morning.

The 41-year-old had previously admitted two offences of criminal damage and one of assault occasioning actual bodily harm - all of which took place in January.

Maria Masellis, prosecuting, told the court the defendant entered a relationship with the victim, Sarah Carpenter, some months earlier when they were living in temporary accommodation in Llanberis.

She told Evans she'd fallen in love with him, the court heard, and he told her tshe same.

But his behaviour changed after someone told him the victim had been unfaithful; a claim she said had no truth.

On the day of the offence, Evans became aggressive and threw his phone against the wall following a "heated discussion."

He went to the kitchen and returned with a knife, asking Ms Carpenter to kill him.

She managed to get the blade off him and put it away, but he grabbed her throat with both hands and told her: "I could kill you now."

She thought he was joking, but he followed the threat up by picking her up and carrying her to his living room window.

After opening it and holding her over the sill, he told her: "This is going to hurt. We're three storeys up."

Ms Carpenter, who feared for her life, was eventually put down and before she could call the police, the defendant snapped her phone, followed by her vape.

Without warning, he punched her repeatedly to the face and head, "as if he was possessed."
The pain was "excruciating," the victim said - and resulted in her face "bleeding profusely."

She was left with visible cuts and soft tissue damage - adding in her victim statement that her nose had also been broken.

Dafydd Roberts, defending, told the court: "He pleaded guilty at the very first opportunity and the incident was brought to the attention of police by Mr Evans himself.

"The author of the pre-sentence report believes the remorse he displays is genuine."

Mr Roberts asked the court to consider suspending any custodial sentence, reasoning that his client represented a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.

"During the early part of this century I couldn't have said this violent behaviour was out of character," he continued.

"He was repeatedly behaving in this way then.

"But he has shown over the last 14 years that he is capable of behaving himself.

"He's now in another relationship now and the risks are there.

"Without work [with the probation service], those risks may escalate."

Judge Nicola Saffman told the defendant: "I don't like men who hit women.

"Punching a woman repeatedly to the face is utterly reprehensible.

"I was going to send you straight to prison, but I have to have in mind that you have not offended for many years and it would be safer for the community for you to be rehabilitated."

The Judge handed down a custodial sentence of 16 months, but suspended it for 18 months.

The defendant must undertake 35 sessions on an accredited programme, 15 days of rehabilitation activity and an alcohol abstinence monitoring requirement of 120 days.

He must also pay £300 compensation and a £187 victim surcharge.

The court imposed a five-year restraining order to protect the victim.