A MAN who hit and strangled his pregnant wife in the street has been spared jail.

Petko Mihaylov, of Cobden Road in Wrexham, appeared at Caernarfon Crown Court on Monday afternoon for sentence.

The 26-year-old had admitted at a previous hearing that on December 16, he assaulted and intentionally strangled his wife, Shenka Mihailova, who was at that time five months pregnant with his child.

The court heard that on the day in question, at the Soul Suite bar in the city centre, a door supervisor saw Mihaylov hit his wife to the back of her head with an open palm.

Such was the force, prosecuting barrister Dafydd Roberts said, that her head was seen to move forwards as a result of the blow.

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CCTV operators were notified and after leaving the venue, the couple was observed walking through the Island Green shopping area.

It appeared they were arguing, and at one point Mihaylov turned and put his hands around the victim's throat before 'spitting' in her face.

Police arrived and arrested the defendant shortly afterwards.

When he was shown the CCTV footage, he was "distressed and upset."

John Wyn Williams, defending, said: "The defendant has served just over five weeks in custody and I suspect that given his lack of English, he's found that quite difficult.

"He has had time over Christmas (on remand) to reflect on his position.

"With a backdrop of his good previous character, remorse and his genuine recognition for the need for change, and the fact he voluntarily desisted, I ask Your Honour to consider an alternative to immediate custody.

"He's a fit and able young man who is more than capable of carrying out unpaid work."

Mihaylov told the court that before being remanded in custody, he worked as a fork lift truck driver.

Asked by Judge Nicola Saffman what he now thought about hitting and spitting in the face of his pregnant wife, he told her: "Well, in general it shouldn't happen like that - there are so many other ways to resolve it. But it's a fact, it happened."

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The Judge acknowledged that the victim didn't support the prosecution and in fact wanted the defendant home to support her financially, as well as with her pregnancy.

The judge handed down a 16 month sentence, but suspended it for 18 months with two requirements.

Those include a 120 day alcohol abstinence requirement and 20 days of rehabilitation activity.

The Judge took the time Mihaylov had served on remand as the punitive element of the sentence and opted not to impose financial elements as this would place strain on the defendant's household as opposed to punishing just him.