A JEALOUS man who repeatedly stabbed his lottery-winning girlfriend in the face after she told him she was leaving him has been jailed.

Stephen Gibbs, 45, from Barry, launched the horrific attack on Emma Brown, 50, when she announced that their relationship was over.

The pair had been in a relationship for 12 years but the "dynamic changed" when she scooped her £5.5 million lottery win and he became bitter of her fortune.

A court heard Gibbs had issues with his partner "being more in control of her own life".

South Wales Argus:

Stephen Gibbs and Emma Brown on holiday. Picture: Wales News Service 

Prosecutor Ieuan Bennett said Gibbs also accused Ms Brown of cheating on him and fitted a tracker to her car in the weeks before the attack.

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He told a judge how Gibbs had been drinking all afternoon when he attacked his victim at their £700,000 home in January.

He said: "The dynamics of the relationship were changed in 2017 when she had the good fortune of winning the national lottery competition and in fact won a considerable amount of money.

South Wales Argus:

The former couple at a wedding. Picture: Wales News Service 

"That meant she became financially independent of the defendant."

Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard Ms Brown bought a string of properties following her win and wanted to travel the world.

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But she started to realise her and Gibbs were like "chalk and cheese" as they began arguing at their home in Lakeside.

The court heard she came home from shopping at 7.30pm on January 30 to find drunk Gibbs in the kitchen.

South Wales Argus:

Stephen Gibbs pleaded guilty on the day of his trial. Picture: Wales News Service

He accused her of having an affair with a school friend and questioned her about where she had been.

Mr Bennett said: "She informed him their relationship was at an end. She told him she had seen the relationship falling apart for a number of months.

"She remembers him losing his temper and grabbing her by the throat."

The court heard Gibbs slammed his partner into the wall of the house and put her in a headlock to choke her.

Mr Bennett said Ms Brown tried to escape by running to the front of the house but Gibbs managed to catch up.

He said: "She must have gone to the ground. She remembers him going into the kitchen and taking possession of a large kitchen knife."

The court heard Gibbs told his partner that he wanted to cut his own throat – so she attempted to stop him hurting himself.

But he then "turned his anger onto her" and repeatedly stabbed her in the face on the garden patio.

Mr Bennett said: "She remembers the sight of a knife she thought was going into one of her eyes."

She pleaded with Gibbs to stop and remembers her words to be: "Tell my mother I love her" as she thought she would die.

The complainant was left face down in a pool of blood before a neighbour heard her groaning "help" over the garden fence.

Security footage from the home showed Gibbs making no attempts to help his partner when he left her and fled the scene.

He called a friend and said: "I've stabbed Emma."

He said: "I found out she has been messing around cheating on me. I stabbed her in the face. I think I killed her."

The court heard Gibbs had driven to the Wenvoe area near Cardiff in his Mercedes and had taken tablets.

Police rushed to the scene and found an eight to nine-inch blade covered in blood on the passenger seat.

They also found a tracking device had been fitted on the vehicle on January 17 to track where Ms Brown was driving.

The court heard Gibbs accepted what had happened but told police he had not tried to kill his partner.

Ms Brown was left seven stab wounds to the face – each measuring between two and three centimetres.

The court heard she lost 75 per cent vision in her right eye and lost movement in her right arm. She also suffered scarring and drooping to her eyelid.

In a victim impact statement, Ms Brown said she felt "completely numb to everything" following the attack.

She said: "We were together for 12 years and I can't believe how much he was able to deceive me.

"I can't even begin to contemplate opening myself up again."

The court heard Ms Brown said the attack had a "crippling effect" on her and she now suffers a lack of confidence due to her injuries.

She added: "I used to be the life and soul of the party but now I don't want to be in a large group.

"I will carry this with me for the rest of my life. I struggle to deal with the fact that we were together for 12 years and we were happy."

The court heard Gibbs had carried out a copycat knife attack in another jealous rage with another former lover and her 11-year-old son in 2005.

He attacked the boy after the lad's mother ended a relationship with him – stabbing him five times, four times in the back and once in the chest.

Gibbs later attempted suicide by stabbing himself and jumping from a multi-storey carpark but survived the fall.

Flooring worker Gibbs was previously handed a 10-year extended sentence for GBH and GBH with intent following the horrific attack.

The defendant began his relationship with Emma around five years later.

He pleaded guilty to attempted murder on the day he was due to stand trial.

Judge Richard Twomlow said: "Emma Brown's victim statement demonstrates the devastating effect this has had on her.

"She was in her home. You simply left her there and drove away.

"Because of your previous convictions you do pose a significant risk to members of the public of serious harm."

Gibbs was handed an 18-year extended sentence including 13 years custody and five years on licence.

He was also made subject to a restraining order.