Boyfriend hit girlfriend in the stomach with a pipe to 'beat the baby out of her' in domestic violence case that judge said was the worst he had ever seen

Sentenced: Craig Thomas, 33, has been jailed for 10 years after he repeatedly hit his pregnant girlfriend on the stomach saying he would 'beat the baby out of her'

A man who repeatedly hit his pregnant girlfriend on the stomach saying he would 'beat the baby out of her' has been jailed for 10 years.
Craig Thomas beat his partner, who was 11 weeks pregnant, with the pipe from a vacuum cleaner three times in what a judge said was one of the worst cases of domestic violence he had ever seen.
Cardiff Crown Court heard how 33-year-old Thomas also threatened to pull the terrified woman's teeth out, hit her with a hammer before ordering her to make him a cup of tea, and frightened her so much that she wet herself.
The court was told that Thomas had met the victim several years ago when she was working as a nightclub dancer in Cardiff.
They became friendly and Thomas had comforted her when she told him about a former partner who had been violent towards her.
The pair started a relationship earlier this year and the defendant moved into her home in Llanishen.
However, just a week and a half after she moved in Thomas began acting violently towards the woman - initially on a weekly basis before it soon became a daily occurrence.
The relationship lasted a couple of months until Thomas was arrested.
The court heard how, on one occasion, he hit his victim round the head with a hammer it before taking her to the kitchen to clean the blood up and telling her to make him a cup of tea.
'I was expecting to die in this relationship and I thought this might be the time,' she said in a statement read out in court.
On June 6 this year, she told Thomas she was 11 weeks pregnant - only for his reign of terror to heighten. 

On three occasions he took a pipe off a vacuum cleaner and hit her repeatedly on the stomach, saying he would 'beat the baby out of her'.
Her statement continued: 'I was scared that you would kill me and the baby.'
As well as threatening to pull her teeth out with pliers, the court heard how he had threatened to cut her son’s face if she didn’t do what he wanted.
In another incident he assaulted her because she didn’t have any sugar for his cereal.
Over the course of the relationship, the court heard how he had also burnt the victim with cigarettes, head-butted, kicked and punched her.

One on occasion, she was so terrified of Thomas that she wet herself.
At one point, a friend took the victim to a local A&E department with her injuries where she told staff that her partner had beaten her.
However, she did not report it to the police at that time, claiming she was scared of what he might do.
The violence finally came to police attention after she ran out of the house in her pyjamas one night to a nearby garage, the court heard, where one of the garage workers had described her as looking 'very battered'.

'This is one of the worst cases of domestic abuse I have encountered.'
Judge Neil Bidder

She was taken to hospital and Thomas was arrested.
When he was first interviewed by police Thomas denied ever assaulting his victim. He had also lied to officers, saying her injuries were the result of self-harm.
However, he later pleaded admitted his crimes in court.
The victim said that as a result of the attacks she has permanent cosmetic damage to her ear, multiple scars and suffers facial spasms. She is also worried she will not be able to carry on her dancing career due to the cosmetic damage.
The court heard how Thomas, who also has a previous conviction for assaulting a former partner, had partly blamed his violent behaviour on his cocaine use.
Judge Neil Bidder described Thomas’ crimes as 'an appalling catalogue of very serious violence', and added: 'This is one of the worst cases of domestic abuse I have encountered.'
Thomas had pleaded guilty to three charges of attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm, one of wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm and one of wounding inflicting grievous bodily harm.
The judge gave Thomas a concurrent prison sentence of 10 years in total for his five charges, as well as ordering him to pay £120 in costs.
A restraining order has also been placed on the defendant, forbidding him from contacting the victim or her son.
The judge said that fortunately there were 'no injuries caused immediately' to the victim’s baby.

dailymail.co.uk