A MAN who left his former partner 'genuinely fearing' for her life during an attack has been jailed.

Lewis Wilkinson, 26, of Bryn Garth, Denbigh, appeared at Caernarfon Crown Court for sentencing on Thursday, June 15.

He previously pleaded guilty to charges of Actual Bodily Harm (ABH) and Driving Whilst Disqualified on May 16, having initially pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Stephen Edwards, prosecuting, told the court that on the night of February 17 of this year, Wilkinson had offered a lift home to his ex-partner, Louise Brockbank and she accepted.

The court was told that, although the pair had two children together, they had been separated for two years at the time of the incident.

Mr Edwards said that Wilkinson then picked Ms Brockbank up in the Rhuddlan area at around 9pm that evening.

When she got in the car, she could immediately tell that 'something was wrong' with him, the court heard.

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Wilkinson told her that they were going to his friend's house to 'play poker'.

The defendant was then said to be driving 'erratically' and calling Ms Brockbank a 'rat'.

When the pair arrived at the defendant's friend's house, he told Ms Brockbank to stay in the car, she initially refused to do so but then remained in the vehicle.

After he came back out, he began shouting at his ex-partner and this escalated to the point where he told her he was 'going to kill her'.

Wilkinson also told her that he was going to drive her to her then-partner's house and 'make her petrol bomb' the place.

He then proceeded to put Ms Brockbank into a 'headlock' before punching her in the face so many times that she 'lost count'.

She then managed to get out of the car, but as she ran away Wilkinson ran after her and 'rugby tackled' her to the ground.

The incident came to a head a petrol station when the defendant pulled Ms Brockbank's hair, bit her on the back of the head and kicked her in the face, knocking her unconscious.

Witnesses to the incident then intervened and Ms Brockbank remained in the station's toilet until the issue was resolved.

The court heard that she suffered 'swelling to the face' and 'abrasions to the neck' as a result of the attack carried out by Wilkinson.

Mr Edwards said that Ms Brockbank 'genuinely feared' for her life during the time of the incident.

Denbighshire Free Press:

PIC: Wilkinson was jailed at Caernarfon Crown Court.

Sarah Yates, defending, told the court that Wilkinson was 'ashamed of his actions'.

She added that he had used his time spent in custody so far 'to change himself', completing several qualifications.

Judge Timothy Petts sentenced Wilkinson to 18 months in prison for the ABH charge.

He faced no separate penalty for the charge of driving while disqualified.

Judge Petts also imposed a restraining order to last a period of 10 years.