A man who blinded his girlfriend with his fingers during a savage attack was today jailed indefinitely by a judge at Truro Crown Court.
Shane Jenkin, 33, launched his "premeditated, sustained and vicious attack" on Tina Nash last year, breaking her jaw and nose and leaving the mother-of-two blind.
At Truro Crown Court he was handed an indeterminate sentence for public protection by Judge Christopher Harvey Clark QC for the sadistic attack at his partner's home in Hayle in April last year.
The minimum term was fixed for six years and the judge also made a "hybrid order" that Jenkin should be detained at a secure psychiatric hospital.
Nash sat in the public gallery but Jenkin refused to attend court.
Jenkin admitted GBH with intent last month. After he pleaded guilty, Nash said she was glad he had "at least taken responsibility for changing my life forever".
However Nash revealed she was coming to terms with her injuries in an interview with the BBC.
She told Jon Kay: "I feel like I'm coming to terms with it. I was in quite a dark place back then. I don't feel as low as I did."
Tina was left completely blind after the attack
The 31-year-old said she had been "sleeping and thinking" for nine months as she adjusted to her new life.
She added: "I feel stronger, a lot stronger. I've got a way to go yet but I'm on the right track
"I don't feel proud of myself, I'm doing it for my kids. I want them to be proud of me."
She also spoke of the outpouring of support she had received, including countless messages and letters, which her family read to her.
Nash said: "I don't think I'm brave, I'm surviving, I'm getting on with it. You only get one life so I'm not going to let him ruin it.
Attempts to save the sight in one of her eyes failed and she was left completely blind.
She said: "I truly feel that, when he was strangling me, he was trying to murder me.
Shane Jenkin, 33, who has admitted GBH with intent
Powerfully-built Jenkin, of Sea Lane, Hayle, Cornwall, was originally charged with attempted murder but court staff confirmed he had admitted GBH at the court last month.
Her sons were aged 13 and three at the time of the attack.
Detective Inspector Chris Strickland, of Devon and Cornwall Police, said Jenkin carried out a "premeditated, sustained and vicious attack on a defenceless woman".
"Our view is that Jenkin deliberately strangled Tina into a state of unconsciousness in order that he could inflict these terrible injuries," he said.
"Tina's life will never be the same and her lifelong disability will be a constant reminder of the attack.
"Her injuries were so shocking that friends who saw her soon after the incident found it difficult to stay in the room.
"Tina has displayed incredible strength however and has shown great desire to be able to care for her two children despite not being able to see them as they grow up."