Cocaine-use downfall of 'obsessed' man who strangled his ex

"JEALOUS and obsessive" man twice strangled a woman who thought she would die.

- DAVID POWELL

Niall Lewis, 28, of Ffordd Trebeirdd, Mold, admitted intentional strangulation and assault causing actual bodily harm.

But a judge said said women would be better served if he were rehabilitated not jailed immediately and gave him an 18-month jail term, suspended for 18 months, with strict conditions.

Elen Owen, prosecuting, told Caernarfon Crown Court that the defendant had been in a relationship with the woman at the end of last year.

He would "obsess" about her previous relationships, looking through her phone, screaming in her face and call her a slag, the court heard.

On the night of January 31 this year they were arguing at his mother and stepfather's house about her past relationships and Lewis slapped his former partner, took her clothes from a wardrobe and told her she had "15 minutes to pack".

He grabbed her by the throat and shoved her down the stairs, said Ms Owen.