‘I woke up in hospital with memory loss and was told Horrific injuries and my boyfriend had done it’
While I was on the floor he was [punching] me repeatedly to the point where I was in so much pain I told him to kill me because I couldn’t stand it any more
WHEN Emily Lewis woke up in hospital with horrific injuries to her face and head, she had no idea what had happened to her.
Moments later her whole world came crashing down when a nurse told her: “Your boyfriend did it.”
Emily had been in a relationship with Thomas Jones for three years before he beat her and strangled her while high on cocaine and alcohol.
The attack, which happened overnight on February 18 last year, saw Emily sustain a head injury that was so deep it reached her skull.
Jones also fractured Emily’s cheekbone and left her with bruising all over her face and body.
Having had 19 stitches and being “green in the face” with bruises for weeks, Emily is now physically and emotionally scarred for life.
Jones, who had no previous convictions, has now been sent to prison following a sentencing at Swansea Crown Court.
Emily has bravely decided to speak out about Jones’ actions to raise awareness of domestic abuse and its consequences.
The 24-year-old, from Neath, said: “I am speaking out because I want to help other women.
“No matter how minimal what someone has done to you, you should always report it because it could help others.
“I want to empower women to get these people convicted.”
Emily said she and Jones had been together for three years before the attack happened.
Although their relationship wasn’t always perfect, she said in general there were no obvious signs he would ever physically harm her.
She said: “During our relationship he was never massively aggressive to me.
“In the year leading up to it I thought he had a drinking problem because he would go out all the time and come home late and then have a go at me.
“There were traits of negative behaviour towards me but nothing like this. I wouldn’t have described it as a toxic relationship.”
On February 18, 2023, Emily said the pair had gone out with friends to Wind Street in Swansea.
She said the evening started off fun with all of them singing and dancing together. However, Jones’ behaviour flipped when they moved to a second venue.
“I believe he got kicked out of that venue,” she said. “I was outside with him trying to calm him down and it started from there.
“He was calling me names, calling me a c**t, telling me to f**k off, and telling me to go away while I was trying to defuse the situation.
“We went into another place and he
got kicked out of there.”
Although Emily has little memory of what happened next due to her injuries, the court heard how a conversation between the pair was recorded outside their home via a smart doorbell.
It revealed Jones becoming aggressive towards Emily because he couldn’t find the house key and he blamed it on her.
Emily, who has since suffered flashbacks of the night, said: “I don’t remember much from when we got home because of the head injury I later sustained.
“I remember something briefly being said about house keys because he couldn’t find them and he was saying I had them when I remember he had them.
“Next I remember being inside the house and I remember him strangling me to the point where I couldn’t breathe. I could feel myself drifting in and out of consciousness.
“I was trying to kick him off me but I’m small compared to him so I wasn’t able to.”
Emily’s clearest memory from that night is the “excruciating” amount of
pain she felt and how desperately she didn’t want to feel it any more.
“While I was on the floor he was [punching] me repeatedly to the point where I was in so much pain I told him to kill me because I couldn’t stand it any more,” she said.
“I was hurting everywhere. He had battered me all over.”
The court heard Emily made around 10 frantic phone calls to her mum in an attempt to get help.
When Emily’s mum turned up at the scene, the court heard Jones punched her in the face, causing her nose to bleed.
Police arrived while Emily’s mum took her to Morriston Hospital in Swansea. The court heard Jones continued to scream abuse at the car as they drove off.
“I signed myself into A&E and they saw me straight away,” Emily said. “They took me straight into resus and I don’t remember much more of that night.
“I remember waking up at around 9am the next morning and I didn’t know what was going on.
“I was in a hospital gown and my phone was dead. I was pumped full of painkillers like morphine but I could still feel the pain. I woke up in absolute agony.”
As Emily asked the nurse to charge her phone, she said she was horrified to catch a glimpse of her injuries on the phone camera.
She was even more horrified to learn how she sustained them.
She said: “I saw the state I was in. My head was shaved, I had stitches in my head, and my face was swollen up like a balloon.
“I threw my phone because I was in so much shock and I didn’t know who did it. I asked the nurse and she told me it was my boyfriend.
“I was shocked and traumatised when I found out he did this.
“My life completely changed in one night. The day before we were fine and now I haven’t spoken to him since.”
Nobody knows exactly how Jones caused the deep wound on Emily’s forehead.
However, it was said by the prosecution that it was most likely to have been caused by an Alexa screen found with blood splatters on it.
Emily has a scar and no feeling in the area, as well as issues with balance and memory.
She said: “I have an appointment with brain injury aftercare because I repeat myself constantly, my balance is off, and I have started having migraines.
“My balance is particularly bad; I can’t walk in a straight line.”
During the sentencing hearing, prosecutor Alycia Carpanini told Judge Paul Thomas KC that Jones had previously pleaded not guilty and only changed his plea to guilty to charges of inflicting grievous bodily harm and battery minutes before his trial was due to begin in July.
She said aggravating features of the case include the fact he was high on drugs and alcohol at the time of the incident, as well as the fact he attacked Emily in a domestic setting.
Addressing Jones, who sat in the dock wearing a blue suit and pale blue tie, Emily bravely read out her victim impact statement.
She told the court she suffers from insomnia and feelings of terror whenever she looks in the mirror and is reminded of what Jones did to her.
“I am a survivor,” she said. “I have a scar that reminds me of how strong I will become. You haven’t taken away my will to live. You haven’t broken my spirit. This scar is a constant reminder of what happened but it does not define my future.
“I can’t bear the thought of this happening to someone else.”
Stuart Tupin, mitigating, told Judge Thomas that Jones was of clean character with no previous convictions and is employed.
He added: “He is certainly getting to the point of facing what he did that night. I’m not saying he is there yet but he is now recognising the impact his actions had.”
Mr Tupin said the defendant had used cocaine a number of times in the past but had never reacted like this.
He said Valium was found in Jones’ system that night, but the defendant maintains he did not take it and believes it must have been added in the bag of drugs he used alongside alcohol.
Although Mr Tupin said the use of drugs was never condoned, he offered it as a possible explanation. He said Jones had booked an appointment with the Welsh Centre for Action on Dependency and Addiction.
Judge Thomas sentenced Jones to 18 months in prison for his actions towards Emily. He was also handed a two-month term to run concurrently for battery following his actions towards Emily’s mother. He will serve half of this sentence in prison before being released on licence.
A restraining order will also prevent him from making any contact with Emily for the next three years.
Addressing the defendant, Judge Thomas said: “This offence is simply too serious to justify anything other than immediate custody.
“A message has to go out to people, particularly men, that prison will be the inevitable outcome.”
If you or someone you know is affected by domestic abuse visit the Live Fear Free website or call the helpline on 0808 80 10 800.