A man who beat a woman to the ground in Brynamman after she turned him down, while on bail for abusing his former partner, has been jailed for 52 months.
Cameron Morgan, 24, of no fixed address, broke the woman’s nose and upper jaw in the attack on Cwmgarw Road on 20 June, Swansea Crown Court heard. She was left with scarring to her face.
He admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm and controlling or coercive behaviour against his ex-partner, and was sentenced on Thursday 22 October. Dyfed-Powys Police described him as “clearly a dangerous man”.
The attack on Cwmgarw Road
Morgan had been drinking at the Tregib Arms before he approached a woman he had never met in the street and asked if she wanted to go home with him, prosecutor Dean Pulling told the court. She said she wanted to catch up with her friends and go home.
He punched her to the ground, lifted her by her hair and hit her repeatedly on the nose, then picked her up by her clothes and threw her into a wall, where she struck her head, the court heard.
One of his own friends stepped in, and the woman ran to a nearby churchyard and called police. Officers drove her to Glangwili Hospital, where scans showed a broken nose, a broken upper jaw and injuries to her wrist.
Morgan was arrested outside a nearby house, topless and without shoes, and officers judged him to be intoxicated. He answered no comment in interview.
In a statement read to the court, the woman said the scarring and the damage to her nose were daily reminders of the attack. She had never been anxious before, she said, but now “it sometimes feels like I am scared of my own shadow”.
What his former partner went through
The coercive behaviour charge covered a relationship with a woman he had met online. Mr Pulling said the abuse became daily: he called her names, accused her of cheating, picked arguments and threatened to destroy her property, shoot her dogs and set fire to the stables where she kept her horses.
He punched her in the face on three occasions, once while she was driving through Ystradowen with him in the passenger seat, the prosecutor said. On another he pointed a slingshot at her face.
When she went away for work in March he insisted on video calls so he could check who was in the room with her. When she tried to leave he threatened her animals and her family.
He was arrested, gave a no comment interview and was released on bail. He attacked the second woman while still on bail for those offences.
His former partner said in her statement that she now lives with anxiety and panic attacks and no longer feels safe anywhere. The abuse, she said, had affected “every aspect of my life”.
Drinking and drugs since he was 14
Ian Ibrahim, defending, said Morgan had misused alcohol and cocaine since the age of 14, had been close to his mother and had no contact with his father. He said his client had been using cocaine and had not slept for 24 hours before the attack, was remorseful and wanted to apologise to both women.
Judge Catherine Richards passed 22 months for the coercive behaviour and 30 months for the grievous bodily harm, to run one after the other, with a quarter off each for his guilty pleas. She said she had considered a report on whether he was a dangerous offender, and that if he came back before a court for violence the test “would easily be met”.
The court heard he has six previous convictions. Twelve weeks of a suspended sentence for dangerous driving and drug driving, passed at Gwent Magistrates’ Court last year, were activated to run at the same time, and restraining orders bar him from contacting either woman for five years.
‘Bravery and dignity’
Acting Detective Inspector Anna Morgan, of the force’s Carmarthenshire local investigation unit, said both women had “shown amazing fortitude in coming forward and reporting Morgan”.
She added: “To have to relive these traumatic experiences takes bravery and dignity, and them coming forward was absolutely key to us being able to investigate Morgan and bring him to court.”
The detective said: “Morgan is clearly a dangerous man, and the way he behaved towards these women was completely inhumane. I and colleagues within Dyfed Powys police are committed to relentlessly pursuing offenders who subject violence against women and girls.”
Since August the force has had a specialist domestic abuse adviser working inside its 999 control room to spot high-risk cases from the first call. Dyfed-Powys is one of twelve forces in the second wave of Raneem’s Law.
If you or someone you know is affected by domestic abuse, the Live Fear Free helpline offers free, confidential advice 24 hours a day on 0808 80 10 800. In an emergency, always call 999.
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