A Pembroke Dock man who tried to sledge-hammer his way into a flat after attacking his partner with a heavy object has been jailed for 30 weeks.

Shaun Nelmes appeared at Haverfordwest magistrates for sentencing on Wednesday, October 3.

Nelmes, 44, had pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and criminal damage when he appeared from custody the previous day.

Vaughan Pritchard-Jones, prosecuting, told the court that Nelmes was described as ‘in a mood’ when he and his partner returned home from the pub, and he was ‘heavily intoxicated’ after drinking between 15 and 20 pints.

He got into her face as the pair argued, grabbed her by the throat and squeezed.

There was a scuffle when the woman picked up a plate and smashed it over his head in an attempt to get him away, and she fell to the floor where she suffered a blow to her head.

Mr Pritchard-Jones said: “She did not see what hit her, but it was a heavy object to her head, it caused immediate pain and she was stunned.”

The woman believed she had been hit by a rubber mallet, which she spotted in the kitchen afterwards, and she was left with significant swelling and a substantial curvature over her eye.

Nelmes left the flat and the frightened victim locked the door, but he returned within minutes with a sledge-hammer and started to smash his way through.

Mr Pritchard-Jones said: “You can imagine the fear it would have caused to the person inside the flat hearing that sort of damage being done.”

He added that Nelmes had significant similar previous convictions, and was on a community order for a racially aggravated assault.

Mike Kelleher, defending, said both parties had been drinking considerably before the incident.

“He has very little recollection, but in her statement she can’t be sure that she was hit by a mallet.”

Magistrates sentenced Nelmes to 26 weeks in prison, and also resentenced him for his previous offence for four weeks.

He was ordered to pay a total of £585 in compensation and a surcharge.