Llandeilo abuser guilty of assaulting and stalking partner
Griffiths, from Pontypridd, was arrested on suspicion of stalking the victim in February, and was bailed on the condition that he didn't contact her again.
However, the court heard that the victim noticed his van in the car park at Co-op in Llandeilo in March. She drove around the block in an attempt to avoid coming across him, but when she passed him on the main road he 'glared at her' and 'looked angry'.
That evening, the victim received a message from Griffiths saying that he was back home safe and wishing her a happy birthday.
She didn't reply, and he then sent another message saying: "I know you think I don't love you, but I do."
Griffiths then sent three more messages, one of which read: "Expect the police in the morning."
Four days later, a farmer called the victim saying someone had told him that her dogs had been involved in an incident with his sheep. This wasn't the case, the prosecution confirmed.
She was later shown a screenshot of a post Griffiths made on Facebook where he posted a picture of dead sheep and another of the victim's dogs, along with text 'insinuating her dogs were involved'.
The victim received a phone call on WhatsApp from the defendant on March 26 – which she also didn't answer.
She also reported seeing Griffiths' van in the Llandeilo area several times, including seeing him pulling out of Llandeilo services after her on May 1.
Griffiths was further charged with common assault from when the couple were still together.
It was alleged that – at a point in June or July last year – the victim was woken up by the defendant and could smell alcohol on him. She left the room but he followed her, causing her to run out of the house.
Griffiths then locked her outside in just her underwear, and turned off all the lights. She went to sleep in the stable, but was woken up by Griffiths shining a torch in her face.
He grabbed her by the hair and dragged her back inside the house.
'During this whole period, he has maintained the hold on her hair,' the prosecution said.
Griffiths, of Poplar Road in Rhydyfelin, denied stalking and battery, but was found guilty at Llanelli Magistrates' Court on July 4.
The 46-year-old had six previous convictions for 13 offences, and was subject to a suspended sentence at the time for assault occasioning actual bodily harm against the same victim.
Griffiths, representing himself, maintained that he didn't commit the offences which made up the stalking charge.
When asked by Recorder Simon Stephenson about the terms of a restraining order, Griffiths said he worked as a gardener in the Llandeilo area, but accepted he would be banned from contacting or posting about the victim.
Griffiths was jailed for a total of 16 months, including the activation of eight months of his suspended sentence.
He was also made the subject of a five-year restraining order.
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