A MAN from Wrexham who strangled his ex-partner when she was pregnant with his child on multiple occasions has been jailed.

William Nicholas, 27, of Ruthin Road, was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment at Caernarfon Crown Court today (August 1).

He had previously admitted two counts each of intentional strangulation and of criminal damage, as well as a charge of perverting the course of justice.

Prosecuting, James Coutts told the court that Nicholas and Catherine Evans had been in relationship since 2020, having met and quarantined together during a COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in 2020.

Their relationship was initially described as “OK”, but that it deteriorated after she returned to work at the start of 2022.

Nicholas would the regularly check her mobile phone and call her to check where she was and what she was doing.

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From then on, their relationship was described as “on/off”, with several incidents leading Ms Evans to contact police.

They then split up on February 10, 2023, with Nicholas having told Ms Evans he was seeing someone else.

The following day, he began phoning her, telling her he had lost his job.

At 10.15am that day, Nicholas arrived at her home and began shouting at her, so Ms Evans opened her living room window to tell him to “go away”.

But before she could close it again, he pulled his hand through the window, grabbed her by the neck, and dragged her backwards.

He climbed through the window, and in doing so, hit Ms Evans’ television screen, causing £600 of damage.

Nicholas then grabbed her by the neck and “squeezed very hard,” with Ms Evans saying she felt close to losing consciousness.

After letting go of her, they argued briefly, before pushing her up against her bathroom door and again squeezing her neck forcefully.

He continued squeezing until she began to lose consciousness, at which point he let go and left.

They argued briefly, then he again took her by neck and pushed her up against the bathroom door.

Ms Evans said the incident “terrified” her, and left her feeling “scared” and fearing for her life.

Nicholas was arrested that day, gave no comment in his police interview, before being released under investigation.

At 11am on April 4, Nicholas arrived at Ms Evans’ house, having tried to contact her in the days prior to this following the expiry of his bail conditions.

She stayed upstairs while calling police, alleging that he threatened to break her car window.

Nicholas was arrested that day on suspicion of various offences and interviewed, before being released on various conditions including that he does not contact her or attend her address.

On April 11, Ms Evans was at her neighbour’s house throughout the day, when Nicholas constantly called both of them to try to discover her whereabouts.

At 11.30pm that night, she was in her bed when Nicholas arrived outside her home in his car, and shouted through her letterbox: “Get in the car – I want to speak to you now.”

She got in to the front seat of his car, and he said: “You need to drop it. You’re getting me in loads of trouble,” before screaming at her, and telling her that he loved her.

He then drove her erratically to his house, where they went to sleep in his bedroom.

The following afternoon, Ms Evans, who was 14 weeks pregnant, began repeatedly being sick, and told Nicholas she needed to attend hospital.

But he told her to “shut up”, and instead continued playing on his PlayStation games console.

That night, after he jolted her in his sleep, he woke up, became aggressive to her, and screamed: “Get out of my f***ing house.”

She went downstairs, but he pushed her into his front door and told her she “wasn’t going anywhere”.

He then put her hand around her throat, and lifted her off the floor by her neck, before dragging her upstairs by her hair.

Pushing her on to a bed, he then got on top of her and began to choke her again; she tried to call police, but he took her phone and caused £300 of damage to it.

Nicholas then began talking about her cheating on him, and her meeting someone while she “had her baby in his belly”.

He put his hand around her throat again, before placing his knee on her stomach saying: “I’m going to get that baby out of you.”

Ms Evans was told by him that nobody liked her, before being called a “cheating b****” and having her skin pulled at on her face.

She was then held against a wall, and filmed while one of her breasts were exposed, with Nicholas saying: “I want everyone to see what a mess you are.”

Nicholas’ father, who owned the home, was then heard arriving at the property, so the defendant told Ms Evans to “be quiet” and stood on her legs, threatening to break them.

His father than rugby-tackled him onto a bed and told Ms Evans to run, so she left and hid in a nearby alley for 20 minutes.

She attended hospital, crawling in through a door and vomiting upon arrival.

Photos taken of her injuries included scratches and bruises to her face, arms, leg and neck; she was later relocated to a refuge.

In a statement, she said has suffered panic attacks and night terrors, and has woken during the night sweating.

She described sitting in her bath crying for up to six hours, saying: “This is the furthest from OK that I have ever been”.

Defending Nicholas, who had 15 previous convictions for 23 offences, Philip Tully said he now accepts the relationship has ended and has “genuine remorse” for his conduct.

He is a father to a son who he is hoping to regain access to, and wants to change his behaviour to show him a “better example”.

Nicholas was also said to have “unresolved issues” regarding his mental health.

Sentencing, Judge Nicola Saffman also imposed an indefinite restraining order, preventing Nicholas from contacting or referring to Ms Evans, or from entering Gresford, Wrexham.

She told him: “You’re a naturally aggressive, violent bully. You’ve ruined her ability to form attachments.

“You’re a danger to women. It is very lucky that you did not kill this victim.”

Judge Saffman also requested an explanation from police as to why, following the first incident, Nicholas was released under investigation, rather than being remanded in custody.

She labelled this an “appalling” decision by police which “minimises” the severity of offending.

“The prosecution have let down Ms Evans,” she said.

“She needs more protection from this man. He’s clearly an individual who could have killed her. The police really have lots of questions to answer; as do the Crown Prosecution Service.

“All of this would have been avoided if police had remanded him, as they should have.”

Judge Saffman said she would send a transcript of today’s hearing to North Wales Police’s chief constable, Amanda Blakeman.