Wales News Service
A man who tried to murder his ex-girlfriend by strangling her on a coast path and leaving her for dead has been sentenced to life in prison.
Keith Hughes, 39, of Swansea, attacked Stacey Gwilliam at Langland Bay, Swansea, in July.
Hughes, who was convicted of attempted murder at Swansea Crown Court, must serve a minimum of eight-and-a-half years.
Judge Paul Thomas said he represented a "severe risk" of harm to the public.
The court heard Hughes strangled Miss Gwilliam on a footpath near Langland golf course and hid her "body" in bushes thinking she was dead
'What have I done?'
But she woke up to find she had been covered in branches, leaves and ferns.
The pair had recently got engaged after Hughes was released from prison for three separate attacks on Miss Gwilliam and on the day of the attack they went for a walk from Bracelet Bay to Caswell.
But they argued, and Hughes claimed she said she would get him sent back to prison by saying he had raped her.
Hughes said he grabbed hold of her jumper and "my hands moved to her neck".
He said Miss Gwilliam lost consciousness and fell to the ground and he "panicked".
"I thought 'what have I done?' I was not intending to kill her. I must have put her in the bushes and put some branches over her," he said.
"I just felt terrible about what I had done. I thought she was dead. I just left."
see-http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-35007075
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