Man squeezed Blaenau Gwent woman’s face so hard she said some of her teeth fell out, court hears

A man squeezed a woman’s face so hard she said it caused some of her teeth to fall out, a court has heard.

Lewis Thomas, from Gilwern, was secretly recorded by the victim as he dragged her across the floor by her hair and legs in her home in Blaenau Gwent in February 2020.

The court heard how Thomas became angry when he was told to take off his boots when walking in the house.

Prosecutor Andrew Kendall told Newport Crown Court how during the argument, Thomas asked the woman “why are you doing this to me?” and added “the only person you’ve got is me".

During the ordeal, Thomas stood on the victim's stomach, kicked her and squeezed her face. He also smashed her lamp on the floor, the court heard.

Mr Kendall explained the pair had met in 2017 and had been in a relationship until 2020, but added they were not in a relationship at the time of the incident.

The woman later told police that as a result of the attack, she had "significant bruising on her arm" and that she had lost "several teeth" as a result of Thomas squeezing her face.

Thomas denied what had happened to Gwent Police and said the victim had been violent towards him.

Thomas, who has four previous convictions for eight offences, was at the time of sentencing already serving 12 years and eight months for his role in a large-scale drug trafficking operation in the region, which he was sentenced for in November last year.

In a victim impact statement, the woman called the incident “traumatic and horrific”.

She explained how it had “ruined her life and made her a nervous wreck”, adding that she was a “previously successful medical rep” that enabled her to “invest in properties”.

“I have been diagnosed with PTSD. I suffer from panic attacks and constant flashbacks. My physical scars have healed but my mental scars will always remain. No man or woman should ever have so much taken away from them including their self worth”, the victim said.

Karl Volz, representing Thomas, said his client has no previous convictions for offences which include violence and said he was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the assault.

“At times he has felt near suicidal because of the guilt he feels. He accepts it is a truly awful assault.

“We say he went over to collect five dogs she was looking after for him and an argument arose between them. We say she threw dog excrement in his face and he accepts he went way way way over the top because of that.”

Mr Volz added that Thomas has “a number of certificates which show he is busying himself in custody with construction work which may contribute in some way to some rehabilitation” and added: “He feels utterly destroyed by the situation he has found himself in - of his own making he accepts.”

Addressing Thomas in the dock, Judge Richard Williams told him he appeared to have been “revelling in tormenting her” and said the behaviour he showed in the footage is “sickening sadism, cruelty, misogyny and cowardice”.

Thomas was sentenced to 24 months for assault occasioning actual bodily harm, to run consecutively with his current sentence, making for an overall term of 14 years and eight months. He was also given an indefinite restraining order banning him from approaching the woman by any means.