Bride-To-Be Who Woke Up In Shallow Grave Following Domestic Attack

#1 Stacy Gwilym lived through a waking nightmare when she woke up to find herself buried in a shallow grave.

A bride-to-be woke up in a shallow grave after she was strangled by her fiancé and left for dead following a blazing row on a coastal beauty path. Her fiance had attacked her and left her for dead, and at his sentencing Gwilym shared the harrowing tale of how she had to claw her way out of what was supposed to be her burial place.

#2 She got in an argument with her fiance Keith Hughes, as they were taking a romantic walk in South Wales.

Keith Hughes, 39, from Swansea, was found guilty of trying to murder Stacey Gwilym, 34. He is now facing a possible life jail term.

Five days after she had agreed to marry him, Hughes strangled her and then tried to hide her unconscious body in a shallow grave assuming she was dead.

But she came round to find she had been covered in branches, leaves and ferns.

#3 Miss Gwilym regained consciousness after the attack to find herself covered in branches and leaves.

Painter and decorator Hughes, 39, had attempted to hide Ms Gwilym's body under bushes after the harrowing attack. When police arrested Hughes he told them: "You'll never find her" but he was shocked to be told: "She's alive".

#4 Hughes had been jailed in 2013 for other abuse charges on Ms Gwilyn, including false imprisonment.

Hughes had been jailed in 2013 for three years and nine months for three separate assaults on Ms Gwilym and one of false imprisonment. He said while he was in prison Stacey wrote to him and after his release they resumed their relationship and in July, 2015, she agreed to marry him.

#5 The couple had been walking along Caswell Bay on the Gower Peninsula in South Wales when the argument occurred.

After a bitter argument, Hughes left his fiancée for dead on a well-known coastal path beauty spot overlooking Swansea Bay next to Langland Bay golf course. He placed her body under a pile of leaves in a shallow hole after he choked her unconscious and she fell to the ground. He said he believed she was dead.

#6 Hughes claims that he grabbed Gwilym’s shirt and his ‘hands moved to her neck.’ Hughes strangled Gwilym and she lost consciousness.

After burying the body, Hughes admitted taking the key to her car and her bank card after the assault. He then walked back into the village of Mumbles and drove her car to his flat, where he drank some vodka before crashing the car. Hughes said: "I cannot remember drinking but I must have because I was drunk when the police arrested me.

#7 Judge says it was a harrowing nature and Hughes was found guilty of attempted murder and has been sentenced to life in prison.

At Swansea Crown Court, Judge Paul Thomas said he was considering a life sentence because of Hughes's past offending and the 'harrowing nature' of the attack.

#8 Ms Gwilliam, who has to use a walking stick after the savage attack, said: “No matter what he gets, it won’t be as bad as what I face for the rest of my life.”

After the case Miss Gwilym said: 'I've been through a terrible time and the case has been horrible. 'It was absolutely terrifying but I just want to move on with my life. I need to make a fresh start without him in my life.' She has constant nightmares about the incident and has recalled how she blacked out during the attack and woke up surrounded by darkness.