Tina Nash eye-gouge attacker Shane Jenkin jailed for life

Video caption, Tina Nash: 'I had to build myself back up'

A man from Cornwall who blinded his girlfriend by gouging her eyes has been jailed for life.

Shane Jenkin, 33, of Sea Lane, Hayle, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm on Tina Nash, 31.

Jenkin had watched a DVD featuring eye gouging the night before the attack on 20 April 2011, Truro Crown Court heard.

Judge Christopher Clark said the attack was one of "extreme violence with catastrophic consequences" and ordered Jenkin to be detained in a secure unit.

The minimum term was fixed for six years.

Ms Nash, who had been sitting in the public gallery, said after sentencing: "I have waited a year and three weeks for this day."

Jenkin, who refused to attend court, imprisoned the mother-of-two at her house in Hayle for 12 hours after the assault, the court heard.

After the attack, attempts were made to save the sight in one of Ms Nash's eyes.

But the efforts of medical experts were in vain and she was left completely blind.

Ms Nash also had her jaw fractured and nose broken in the assault, which Det Insp Chris Strickland, of Devon and Cornwall Police, said was the "most shocking" he had ever dealt with.

Although there had been previous violence in the couple's relationship, Ms Nash told police she thought she could change Jenkin.

She said that she had helped him get out of trouble for hurting her on previous occasions.

The attack had left her feeling "buried alive, claustrophobic and not in control of my life", she said.

Image caption, Tina Nash says she is coming to terms with the injuries inflicted on her by former boyfriend Shane Jenkin

But more than a year on, Ms Nash said she was feeling a lot more confident.

"I feel like I'm coming to terms with it now, I don't feel as low as what I did. I'm definitely getting the old me back.

"I don't think I'm brave, I think I'm surviving... you only get one life, so I'm not going to let him ruin it."

Following the hearing, Ms Nash said: "Shane was not mentally ill when he attacked me, he was not drunk or under the influence of drugs. It was a silent, prolonged attack.

"Shane knows what he did to me that night and he has to live with that for the rest of his life.

"My life changed forever that night and will never be the same, but I am now able to move on, start my treatment and rebuild my life.

"I have a future and want to provide a future for my kids and be a good mum."