Man left partner with 'possible' bleed on the brain in 'dehumanising' attack

Iwan Meirion Lloyd, 25, of Derwen Deg, Ganllwyd, was jailed for 24 months for assault causing actual bodily harm
-Credit: (Image: North Wales Police)


A woman was left with a "possible" brain bleed after her angry former partner attacked her. Iwan Meirion Lloyd set upon the woman, who feared she would die, when his drugs failed to arrive.

The 25-year-old admitted assaulting Gwenan Mai Raftree causing her actual bodily harm, and causing criminal damage, in the incident in Tanygrisiau near Blaenau Ffestiniog. A judge at Caernarfon Crown Court today jailed Lloyd for two years.

Lloyd, of Derwen Deg, Ganllwyd near Dolgellau and Ms Raftree had been in a relationship for five years, the court heard. On July 5 she learned he was expecting drugs to be delivered but when none came be became annoyed.

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Prosecutor Williams Griffin said the couple both consumed alcohol and in a heated argument he grabbed Ms Raftree by the throat and hit her against the floor. He also threw bottles of beer and damaged the floor and wall. You can sign up for all the latest court stories here

A week later Ms Raftree, 38, went to hospital with a potential bleed on the brain. There were also injuries including to her eye and back, said the prosecutor.

Police arrested Lloyd later that day. Today Ms Raftree read out her own victim statement, made around the time of the assault, in court.

She said: "I feel like my memory has been horribly affected. I fall asleep so easily without warning and struggle to remember things.

"I had so much pressure on my chest (during the assault) that my chest still hurts." She added: "I think he must be struggling (on remand) in prison but he needs to be in prison for my sake and his own."

She said her now ex-partner Lloyd "has to feel the consequences of his actions". The court also heard that she wants to move out because her home has so many bad memories. She was not in a "fit state" to look after her bulldog and rehomed it.

Richard Edwards, defending, said it had only been a "possible" bleed on the brain although he doesn't wish to minimise the effects of the crime. His client had been addicted to cocaine.

He is genuinely ashamed of himself and apologises. The barrister added that while on remand Lloyd has worked with Chainbreakers - a peer-led group at HMP Berwyn in Wrexham which has helped his mental health issues.

He would like to explore working with them to help others in future. The judge Her Honour Nicola Saffman said it had been a "sustained and vicious" assault.

She added: "She genuinely feared for her life at the time you were attacking her and you were taunting her and dehumanising her." Imposing a 24-month jail term for causing ABH, she also made a ten-year restraining order prohibiting the defendant from contacting his victim.

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