A woman who faced her former partner in court after he bit her on the ear and repeatedly punched her says she fears he could "kill in the future". Nia Gibbs-Williams, 30, says she feared for her life but hopes her story will give other domestic abuse survivors hope.
The 30-year-old suffered violence at the hands of her former partner and serial domestic abuser Andrew Beckett, 38, during their relationship. The most shocking incident involved him biting her on the ear and repeatedly punching her with both fists. He also prevented her from leaving his house for two hours despite her protestations and only released her when the police arrived to arrest him.
Beckett, who has previous convictions for domestic violence, was sentenced to 26 months imprisonment at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court on Friday and was made subject to a restraining order indefinitely. He admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm and assault by beating.
Control and escalation
Nia, of Tonyrefail, bravely read out a statement in court in front of her abuser about the impact on her life, health and job as a result of the violence she suffered. Speaking after the hearing, Nia described the beginning of the relationship and how Beckett's behaviour escalated to a horrifying extent.
She said: "I just see the good in everybody, I wouldn’t know a good person from bad. He informed me he had been in trouble with the police before and showed me an online article and said there were three sides to every story." He said he had done courses and it was down to his ADHD. "I thought maybe he’s changed and to take my time and if he laid a finger on me I would be done."
"He did things up until the abuse, he would put fuel in my car and made out it was a good gesture. But he reset the gauge of my car to work out the mileage I was travelling and if it was more than the mileage to work and back he would question me about my whereabouts. There was indirect control."
"What triggered me was when he spoke about my family. He said I was a carbon copy of my mother and I thought that wasn’t a bad thing but why are you bringing my mother into this. There was a sense of jealousy and guilt. He couldn’t cope with his own guilt, he passed that on to me."
Violent incidents
Beckett first assaulted Nia on New Year's Eve 2025 while they were staying at the Premier Inn in Swansea. There was an argument between them and he pushed her into a chair. Months later on April 17, Nia was at her home with Beckett when another argument broke out and she asked him to leave.
The argument became physical when the defendant "went mental" and punched Nia repeatedly to her shoulder and her arms with both fists. The victim couldn't recall how many times she was punched but described the assault as "continuous". She says she tried to escape and stood up to walk away but Beckett approached her from behind and bit her left ear. Nia contacted the police and the defendant ran away.
The couple later went on holiday to Mallorca, in Spain, when an alleged incident took place which was not heard before the courts. Nia claims Beckett punched her to the jaw and held her over a sixth floor balcony after she forgot to ask reception for an iron. The incident led to Nia taking a flight home on her own, but upon returning to Wales, Beckett continued to contact her and offered to "treat her" after winning money on a gambling app.
She said: "I was in a cycle and craving moments when he was nice. I would expect an argument and I knew he would be nice again so I wound bare the arguments, slaps and punches and after that it would be fine again. But then there was never 24 hours where we didn’t have an argument."
Court outcome and fears
They later met at the Central Club in Tonypandy and returned to her home but the defendant wanted to look at her phone and became aggressive. Nia says he kept following her and grilling her and calling her names and when she tried to leave to return home he stopped her and pushed her into the hallway. The defendant gripped the victim's jacket, pushed her against the wall, and grabbed her arms, punching her as he did so. He told Nia: "This is not fixing things Nia. If you want to go you can go you whorebag." She began screaming but Beckett still refused to let her go until the police arrived and arrested him two hours after Nia attempted to leave.
Nia said: "No person should ever have to feel like that in their lives. I had never been spoken to like that in my life. I never had so many threats from someone I hardly know."
The relationship had a devastating effect on every area of Nia's life, including her work as a healthcare assistant in a trauma unit. She said: "I had to care for patients when I wasn’t able to care for myself running on two hours sleep. I didn’t want people to know. My mum said she wanted to say something but I would have had a hammering afterwards. I was in a daze."
"One day I literally broke down in work, two days before he was arrested. Police had to escort me to go up to Merthyr for a training course because they said I was not fit enough to drive. I felt embarrassed, I felt as if I was guilty and ashamed because I could have told them before. My head was like a puzzle box."
Having faced down Beckett in court and seen him imprisoned, Nia said she was "relieved" but fears for women who could find themselves in a relationship with her abuser. She said: "I fear for women in the future when he’s released as it’s been shown today he’s a reoffender. The work he’s said he’s done on himself, it means nothing. It’s been ineffectual and it’s made no difference to him or his personality either..."
"I strongly believe he could kill somebody in the future, not on purpose but he’s impulsive and will go a step too far. I honestly believe he will kill someone one day. I wish I had a camera when he was having his rages. That’s what I still see, the arguments and the rages. If there’s arguments on the TV, I can’t cope with it."
When asked what advice she would give to women in abusive relationships, Nia said: "It’s difficult, it’s not until you want to do it yourself. Just try and be strong because you will feel better, it will take time. Talk to people who have been through it before and go to courses. I was lucky enough to have an amazing officer in the case. She was amazing with me."
