A MAN strangled his pregnant ex-girlfriend during a row over the abortion of their baby.

Leigh Sulway, 35, from Pontypool has defied a restraining order to go and see his former partner before violence flared earlier this year.

Newport Crown Court heard how the defendant was upset when the woman told him she wanted a termination.

Sulway has a previous conviction for stalking his ex and had been ordered to stay away from her.

In a victim personal statement, she said: “I suffer from PTSD and my emotions are all over the place.

“I find it very difficult to trust people and I feel that everyone is out to get me.”

She added: “I feel a full range of emotions between anger and sadness.”

The woman explained she had lost her job as a result of the stress she had faced although she revealed that she has now found new employment.

Sulway, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to intentional strangulation.

Prosecutor Amelia Pike said the offence took place on January 17.

Sulway’s barrister Jeffrey Jones said: “This was a short-lived event and there was no real injury.”

He added that his client was capable of rehabilitation within the community.

The judge, Recorder Aidan Eardley KC, told Sulway: “An argument blew up and you became aggressive.

“You pushed her up against the wall and you put your hands around her neck.

“You loosened your grip when she shouted at you.

“You assaulted her in her own home when she was pregnant.”

The judge said Sulway’s offence was so serious that only an immediate prison sentence could be justified.

He was jailed for 26 months and was told he would serve half of that sentence in prison before being released on licence.

The defendant will have to pay a statutory victim surcharge following that release.

  • Gwent Police were asked for a mugshot of the defendant but they declined to provide one