A man who punched and throttled his partner of a fortnight when she ended their relationship threatened to snap her children's necks.Steven Rees had kicked his way into the woman's house to confront her after she said she no longer wanted to see him due to his Valium use. The defendant made lurid threats to the woman, urinated on a blanket she wrapped herself in, and attacked her dog.He also told his partner that "all men hate women" and "women-beaters shake hands in prison".Swansea Crown Court heard Rees and the woman began their brief relationship while he was a serving prisoner and the relationship continued upon his release.On November 20 last year the woman told the defendant she no longer wanted to see him due to his abuse of Valium which Rees took exception to.Craig Jones, prosecuting, said later that evening the "angry and aggressive" defendant turned up at his partner's house in the Mayhill area of Swansea and kicked his way in through the front door. Over the course of a prolonged assault he punched and throttled the woman on several occasions, threw coffee over her, and issued a series of "florid" threats about killing her and slicing her up.
The court heard Rees also told women he would snap her children's necks – a threat made while making the hand gestures of what he said he wanted to do.The prosecutor said 31-year-old Rees then removed the blanket which the woman had wrapped herself and urinated on it then "used violence on her dog" before leaving. His partner later rang her mother asking for help and when the mum arrived at her daughter's house she found her hiding in a garden with her children. Mr Jones said Rees later rang his partner's mother and told her that her daughter had been exaggerating about what had happened and that he hadn't hit her that hard.The court heard Rees' now-former partner has felt unable to return to her home address since the attack.Steven James Rees, now of Aberystwyth Street, Splott, Cardiff, admittted assault by beating and two counts of making threats to kill. He has 13 previous convictions for 33 offences including for dangerous driving, harassment of a former partner, motoring offences, possession of drugs, and assaulting emergency workers.Andrew Evans, for Rees, said it was clear from a pre-sentence report that the defendant was somebody who had witnessed a significant amount of domestic violence while he was growing up. He said while in custody his client had been undertaking courses to help him understand the reasons for the way he behaved.With a 10% discount for his guilty plea Judge Christopher Vosper QC sentenced Rees to two years and eight months in prison. The defendant will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.