A WREXHAM man has been jailed for strangling his ex-partner on two separate occasions.

Sam Piper, of Garner Road in Wrexham, appeared via video-link from HMP Berwyn before Mold Crown Court for sentencing on Thursday, October 26.

Piper, 30, initially pleaded not guilty to two counts of intentional strangulation and the matter had been listed for trial on September 27.

But, he later pleaded guilty to both counts on the day the trial was set, the court heard.

Ryan Rothwell, prosecuting, told the court that Piper had been in a relationship with Alex Ridings-Williams for a period of two months at the time of the first incident.

That occurred on Christmas Day of last year, when the couple had gone to the pub for a drink.

As they were leaving, Piper had become 'drunk and abusive' and was 'upset' that he had not seen his daughter, from another relationship, that day.

The pair of them walked home together but when they arrived at Ms Ridings-Williams' home, he 'pinned' her over the garden wall by her neck.

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At this point, Piper was said to be choking the complainant and making it 'difficult' for her to breathe.

The pair then went into her home, where the defendant began to 'throw things around'.

The complainant did not call the police that day however as she 'felt sorry for him' as he had not been able to see his daughter.

The next incident took place on March 19 of this year, which was Mother's Day.

They had been out that day and Piper had stopped to pick up some wine on the way back home.

He later became 'drunk and argumentative', the court heard.

Ms Ridings-Williams asked Piper to leave her house, but he refused to do so.

She had told him she felt he was 'treating her badly' and an argument ensued about a phone that Piper had been using which belonged to the complainant.

That led to him bending her arms backwards and pinning her to the table, before grabbing her by the hair and placing his 'foot on her neck'.

At that time, the complainant said she was 'scared' and eventually managed to leave the house.

North Wales Police attended the address that evening and saw that Ms Ridings-Williams had cuts to her face and neck.

Dafydd Roberts, defending, said that Piper was someone who was 'now addressing his demons'.

He had secured accommodation having previously struggled with homelessness and was in employment, Mr Roberts added.

Sentencing Piper, Recorder Simon Mills said: "Strangulation all too often kills its victim and that is why the courts take it so seriously."

He sentenced Piper to an initial 30 months in prison. However, this was reduced due to 'progress' he made on a previous community order down to 20 months.

And a 10% credit for a guilty plea meant that Piper was eventually handed 18 months in prison for both counts of intentional strangulation, to run concurrently.