A man who launched a cowardly attack on his former partner with a broken guitar, leaving her potentially scarred for life, has been jailed.

Defendant Christopher Harding received a 22 month sentence and a five year restraining order was made not to approach victim Mandy Thomas.

Harding, aged 53, of Abergele Road in Old Colwyn, admitted wounding her in what Judge Niclas Parry described as a cowardly attack on a vulnerable victim.

He said she was vulnerable because she was drunk, was sitting down and was already injured.

But he struck her to the head with a weapon, the guitar, in temper over "minor matters."

The attack was aggravated by the fact that the defendant himself was drunk and the lasting effect upon the victim - who was likely to be permanently scarred.

Harding had an appalling record with previous convictions for 61 offences, he said.

But he had pleaded guilty, he had not been in trouble for some time and his last conviction for violence was more than ten years ago.

Harding had been due to go on trial at Mold Crown Court today but changed his plea.

Prosecuting barrister Simon Mintz said that Miss Thomas, 45, and the defendant, had been together for some 18 years but the relationship ended some four to five years before the incident in February.

He was in a new relationship but would allow Miss Thomas to stay at his flat on occasions.

On February 25 there had been an earlier incident in which Miss Thomas smashed the living room window with a guitar and then stamped on the guitar.

Her movements for the next couple of hours were not known but at about 10 p.m. two police officers found her near the flat in a drunken and upset state and she asked if they would go with her to collect belongings.

The flat was in a mess, the defendant was not present and significantly she was not injured at that stage.

In his basis of plea the defendant accepted that he returned, and with the complainant already injured, he struck her with the guitar either causing her injuries or making them worse.

She left the flat and went to get help at a local chip shop.

The police found her sitting on a chair outside the shop with her face and clothing soaked in blood.

"Her face was bleeding so heavily that the police decided not to wait for an ambulance but to take her directly to hospital," Mr Mintz explained.

She had a deep cut above the right eye which required stitches and it was feared that she would be left with a permanent scar.

Police found the defendant at the flat.

He said she had trashed the flat and later told an officer "I hit her with the guitar and threw shopping at her."

A damaged guitar was seized.

Defending barrister Matthew Curtis said that both used alcohol to excess.

The defendant understood it had to be custody.

He had used the guitar as a weapon upon a vulnerable woman.

That day the defendant's dog had recently died, he was quite maudling and the complainant knew that.

There had been an argument, damage had been caused to his flat and in his upset he accepted that he had attacked her with the guitar.