A MAN who slashed his former partner across the face with a craft knife and tried to slit her throat has been jailed for 10 years.
Ellis Marsh, 29, was told he had committed an absolutely dreadful offence.
Mold Crown Court heard how Marsh barged into the Wrexham home of 23-year-old Emma Parry, took the knife out of his pocket and left her with permanent scars to her face.
Fearing she would be killed, the mother-of-two was screaming and begging with him not to hurt her.
'But he continued to slash at her hair and face and tried to cut her throat,' said Andrew Green, prosecuting.
Using his free hand, Marsh pushed Miss Parry's head upwards to expose her throat.
As she fought for her life, she managed to put her chin down to her chest and did her best to protect herself using her arms, which were also cut in the struggle.
Both she and her friend, Barbara Jones, who was in the house helping to tidy up after Marsh had trashed it earlier that day, were screaming hysterically. Miss Jones ran out of the house to get help.
But the attack came to an end as quickly as it had started when Marsh walked out, saying: 'Look how much you are bleeding. I am going to go down for a long time for this.'
'Not surprisingly, she thought at the time that she was going to be killed,' said Mr Green.
The unprovoked attack left Miss Parry with a deep cut to the forehead and another from her left cheek to above her left ear.
She also had cuts to her forearm and needed stitches and antibiotics.
Since the attack, she has been so scared she has asked to be rehoused.
Judge Gareth Edwards QC retired for 10 minutes before passing sentence - on his return he said he had waited in order to ensure he did not overreact to the gruesome evidence he had seen.
Marsh, of Bryn Place, Wrexham, admitted wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
The court had been told Marsh was anxious to follow a domestic violence course while in prison.
But Judge Edwards said: 'To carve up a young woman's face is not in the normal run of domestic violence.
'This was a vicious, premeditated and prolonged attack with a knife on a young woman in her own home, where she is entitled to feel safe. You slashed her face, inflicting deep and large wounds, scarring her for life.
'You also inflicted other serious injuries and attempted to cut her throat.'
The judge said while Marsh did not stand convicted of attempted murder, the case was a particularly grave one.
'Your victim has been terrified of you for some time - and for good reason,' he said.
The attack had a profound effect on Miss Parry and the fact Marsh had taken drink and drugs was not a shred of an excuse.
If Marsh had been convicted after a trial, Judge Edwards would have considered a 12-year sentence appropriate.
The court heard that Miss Parry and Marsh had been together for six years and had two children, aged three and one. It had been a turbulent relationship, marred by his drinking and heroin addiction.
They had separated several weeks before the attack, but he still went around to see the children - and she would still do his washing.
At the time of the attack, he was on bail not to approach her. That day, he had threatened her outside McDonald's in Wrexham and said: 'I am going to get you with this,' indicating something in his hand.
When she returned home, she found the property badly damaged and a hi-fi missing, for which Marsh admitted responsibility.
It was while Miss Parry and her friend were in the process of tidying up that the attack occurred.
Defending, Jeffrey Clarke said Marsh's mitigation was his guilty plea.
He had co-operated with the police immediately and before he had arrived at the police station following his arrest he had indicated he had thrown the knife into a nearby river.
'He recognises what he has done and is appalled by it,' said Mr Clarke. 'The offences were committed while under the influence of both drink and drugs.'
Drugs were available in prison, but he had stayed away from them and was anxious to 'sort himself out'.
