A JEALOUS and possessive man who got engaged to a woman within three weeks of meeting her launched an appalling attack which left her with a fractured skull and a bleed on the brain.

Victim Louise Harmer – who cannot remember anything of the attack but who told a court she feared she could have died – has been left with on-going mobility issues after pre-existing spinal and sciatic issues were made worse.

Joao Mano, known by her as Pedro, for some unknown reason lost his temper and attacked her at her own home, pushing her downstairs and repeatedly striking her.

Mano, 29, of no fixed abode, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm on Miss Harmer on March 18 at her home at Oakenholt, near Flint, and was jailed for 27 months.

Mold Crown Court heard he had never been in trouble before.

The judge, Mr Recorder Nicholas Gareth Jones, said he had been in a three week relationship with her, they were already engaged to be married and contrary to her wishes he was staying at her home every night.

He was “controlling and possessive” of her and on March 17 when she was upstairs with a female friend and her friend’s children who were having a sleep over, the defendant for some reason lost his temper

“You dragged her out of the bedroom by her feet, you pulled her across the floor and pushed her face forwards straight downstairs,” he said.

She was unconscious at the foot of the stairs. He repeatedly struck her.

Police were subsequently called and officers found her in bed but by that stage she was suffering from a serious head injury.

Later he contacted her trying to regain her sympathy and she felt that he was trying to emotionally blackmail her.

The victim, he said, was a vulnerable young woman suffering from depression and anxiety and she already had problems with her spine.

She had suffered serious injuries and the attack had seriously aggravated pre-existing conditions and she had been left with on-going mobility and other issues.

The victim had a fracture between the skull and the jaw, a bleed and subsequent clot on the brain, three cuts to the back of the head, black eyes, bruising to the face and spine and shoulder and she had been left with problems with her eyesight.

The judge said he took the view that Mano realised she was a vulnerable woman and launched a nasty attack upon her causing very serious injuries.

A five year restraining order was made not to approach her in any way.

Prosecutor Emmalyne Downing said that the couple were in a three week relationship, she was concerned that things were moving too quickly.

He had asked her within a week to marry her and wanted to do so quickly. She agreed to marry him but wanted a long engagement.

The defendant wanted to move in, she said she was not ready for that, but he began to stay every night and would flare up if she said anything. She began to feel stuck and described him as possessive and needy.

He would ask her not to wear make-up and would pick what clothes she should wear.

That night a female friend and the friend’s children were staying over, he kept asking why she was not with him and appeared upset that she was not giving him her full attention.

Later at about 1.30am the two women and the children were upstairs and she recalled nothing more until she woke up in A&E.

The friend told how he entered the bedroom saying he wanted to speak to Miss Harmer.

He dragged her out by her ankles and pushed her down the stairs.

The friend saw him trying to pick her up at the bottom of the stairs, she left with the children despite the fact he tried to block her way, and she called her partner who picked them up.

The partner called the police after seeing blood at the foot of the stairs.

Miss Harmer was transferred to a specialist hospital in Stoke, was there for a week, but had to return on a number of occasions.

She had a fracture to the temple/jaw hinge and a five and a half centimetre bleed to the brain.

In a victim impact statement which she read to the court herself, Miss Harmer said that the assault had completely changed her life and had affected very aspect of it.

When she met Pedro she felt things moved so quickly she had no control over the situation. He knew she suffered depression and felt he was putting pressure on her all the time.

“I did not have the energy to fight against him and just went along with it,” she said

He was pushy and looking back she said she never really trusted him.

The defendant told her initially that he was working then lost his job and she said she found out that he had lied about his family circumstances.

It had left her a nervous wreck, she was frightened at home and scared of going out alone, and her mobility had been affected. She entered court on crutches.

Her depression and anxiety had worsened, she was constantly shaking.

She could not remember what had happened and feared she could have died but for the fact that her friend’s partner called the police.

“When I think of him I feel disgust. I cannot believe he did this to me,” she said. “I never want to see him or hear from him again.”

Jemma Gordon, defending, said her client fully accepted what he had done and despite claims to the contrary he was remorseful.

He accepted it had to be immediate custody for such a serious offence.