A man has admitted killing his partner in a "brutal and sustained" attack after they had spent the day drinking.
Mother-of-two Andrea Lewis was found by police and paramedics "soaking wet and cold to the touch" and covered in bruises on the kitchen floor of a property in Tonna on the morning of January 30.
Swansea Crown Court heard how Miss Lewis, from Resolven, had suffered a fractured skull and broken ribs, and had 43 separate areas of bruising on her body including what was likely a stamp mark on one arm.
Rhys Trevor Anthony Hobbs, 44, of Gnoll View, Fairyland Road, Tonna, pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
'Violent relationship'
Roger Thomas QC, prosecuting, told the court how Hobbs and Miss Lewis had been in a turbulent and violent relationship for the past four years.
The barrister said the victim was often seen by colleagues at Neath's Castle Hotel where she worked covered with bruises - at one stage the injuries were so bad she was moved from serving in the restaurant to duties that kept her away from the public eye.
On January 31, Hobbs, Miss Lewis and their friend Keith Thomas had been drinking in the St Ives pub in Neath before going back to the house Mr Thomas owned on Gnoll View, Fairyland Road, and where Hobbs was a lodger.
The court heard that later that night Miss Lewis was viciously attacked before being dragged outside and left to die - but Hobbs has no recollection of what happened due to his "extreme" intoxication.
'Years of assaults'
The court heard that on the morning of January 31 Hobbs woke and found his partner outside. He dragged her into the kitchen and called 999
The prosecution barrister said the fatal attack on Miss Lewis had been the "culmination of many months and years of assaults" she had suffered at the hands of her partner.
The court heard a victim impact statement from Miss Lewis' family in which they said they had been lucky to have a daughter, sister and mother like Miss Lewis, and that they would rather go through the pain of losing her than to never to have had her in their lives.
Vince Coughlin QC, defending Hobbs, said his client could not remember anything about the attack but accepted he must have been responsible.
The man who owned the house where the attack took place - 46-year-old Keith Thomas - also appeared in the dock charged with manslaughter but the Crown offered no evidence against him and a formal not guilty verdict was entered in his case.
Hobbs will be sentenced on August 11.
see-http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/man-admits-killing-partner-who-11659893
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