Domestic Assault

[Survivor1234]

My ex partner attacked me a couple of weeks ago by strangling and ripping my hair out in front of our 1 year old son . I have sent photos of the bruises to my neckand bold patch and clumps of hair to the police as evidence as I’m pressing charges! He told me as he was strangling me that he was going to kill me, I scratched his face in self defence and thankfully he pulled away otherwise I’m sure he would have killed me !

He has a suspended sentence for 12 month for drinking and driving which was issued only 3 weeks ago ( he has a serious alcohol problem and yes he was drunk ) He also has a previous conviction of braking a mob molestation order in jan and was tagged for a month and another breech also of my non molestation order. He’s was also charged last year with common assault ( not on me ) and he had a previous conviction of domestic abuse with a previous partner a couple of years ago ( which I’ve just found out about !

The police haven’t arrested him yet and I feel totally let down, this could be due to him booking himself into rehabilitation a week ago or maybe there building a case up against him !

I would also like to add that of course now I’ve blocked all contact for my family’s safety !

What do you think the likely sentence would be and do u think he could go to prison! I hope so as he could of left my baby son without a mother !

[kvalidir]

Until he has been arrested, interviewed, the case reviewed and possibly charged no-one has any way of knowing if he'll be found guilty or what of, so it's a difficult question to answer. More importantly than anything, because he may never be charged,is that you are somewhere safe and stable. x

[Survivor1234]

Thank you for your response, yes we are safe in our home, everything is kept locked up and I’ve now invested in a cctv camera, the police have also put a fast response on my address and telephone number.

[Buenchico]

The first thing that the Crown Prosecution Service has to do is decide upon the relevant assault charge. (i.e. 'common assault', 'ABH' or 'GBH'). They also need to decide whether to pursue any further charges, such as 'threats to kill'.

My guess (based upon what you've told us) is that they'd decide that 'ABH' is the most appropriate charge. Assuming that your ex is convicted of that charge, the court would then need to consider whether 'harm' and 'culpability' fall into the 'higher' or 'lower' categories. If both are classed as 'higher' then it's a Category 1 offence. If only one factor is classed as 'higher', with the other as 'lower', it's a Category 2 offence. If both are seen as 'lower' then it's Category 3.

It seems unlikely that the offence could be classed as Category 3, therefore it's at least Category 2 (and possibly Category 1). A Category 3 conviction can't result in a custodial sentence. The 'starting point' sentence for a Category 2 offence is 6 months imprisonment but a non-custodial sentence is also possible (as is a longer custodial sentence of up to 51 weeks). For a Category 1 offence a custodial sentence is always passed, with a 'starting point' of 18 months and an available range of between 12 months and 36 months. (However, as long as the sentence doesn't exceed 2 years, it's possible that a sentence could be suspended).

Note though that the sentences above can be reduced by a third for an early guilty plea and also that, where appropriate, the actual time spent 'banged up' is only half of the nominal sentence.

See pages 11 to 15 here for further information:
https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Assault_definitive_guideline_-_Crown_Court.pdf

If 'threats to kill' is added to the charge sheet then the sentencing range is very wide, from non-custodial up to 10 years imprisonment). However the lowest sentences are reserved for single threats that don't really scare the victim, while the highest ones are reserved for people who carry out sustained intimidation against their victims. I suspect that the category used by the court would be the one here which gives a 'starting point' sentence of 12 weeks custody (with an available range of 6 to 26 weeks custody):
https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/offences/item/threats-to-kill/

All of the information in those two links also has to have this laid on top of it:
https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/6.4143_SC_Domestic_Abuse_Paper_WEB.pdf

My own (very wild) guess, based upon reading all that stuff and following court reports for around half a century is that:
(i) the court will decide not to trigger the custodial offence for drink driving (as the more recent offences are unrelated, other than through the effects of alcohol) ;
(ii) the court will class the ABH offence as at the top end of Category 2 and consider a basic sentence of around 48 weeks imprisonment but then reduce that to 36 weeks because of an early guilty plea ;
(iii) a sentence of perhaps 24 weeks, reduced to 16 weeks for an early guilty plea, will be passed in respect of the threats to kill, but that sentence will be ordered to run concurrently with the ABH one ; and
(iv) the court will reject any suggestion from your ex's counsel that the sentence might be suspended.

So my own guess is that your ex will be sentenced to around 36 weeks imprisonment, meaning that he'll be 'out of circulation' for about 4 months (18 weeks).

[Buenchico]

Thanks for 'Best Answer'.

Just a minor correction to my post though:
Reducing 48 weeks by a third gives an actual sentence of 32 weeks (not 36 as I wrote above), of which 16 weeks would be spent 'banged up'.

[Never trust a former maths teacher to get sums right!]

[Survivor1234]

Thank u so much

[Survivor1234]

Thanks, you were almost spot on ! He’s been charged with ABH and threats to kill, been released on police bail and the court hearing will be the end of July. Let’s hope I get justice for the injuries he caused me - I expect I will go through all the trama of a trial for him to walk away with a slap on the wrist !

There’s plenty of evidence , my photographs of my injuries and a message he sent to a mutual friend stating that he strangled me and she’s prepared to be a witness!

[Canary42]

16 weeks ? Should be 16 years IMHO.

[Buenchico]

Thanks for your feedback.

I hope that your ex listens to the advice which he will undoubtedly get from his solicitor and pleads guilty (thus saving you from the stress of a trial).

[Survivor1234]

I expect he will use the on duty solicitor at the court, he did for his other offences. He was arrested in rehabilitation and I presume he probably gone back there as a requirement of his bail conditions or advised by the judge and therefore will probably get a softer sentence ( he’s not stupid ) it seems unfair tbh

[Survivor1234]

I agree with you canary42, it’s disgusting... this man said he was going to kill me while strangling me and tbh if I hadn’t scratched his face in self defence I think he would have ! My throat still hurts to swallow 3 weeks later . This was all done in front of our 12 month old baby son ... who could be motherless now , it’s appalling!

[Peter Pedant]

piffling point but you keep on doing it
throttling - not strangling

typically the grip is so strong that blood comes out in the skin ( of the victim) in linear streak between the fingers, as a pile of bruises

characteristic - there is no other cause - no no dont show the photos....

[ I said to an army man 1980 - there are linear bruises on your neck..... [ and he said "there is no second cause" ]
there had been a fight amongst the mathematicians in the bar on summer school at Stirling the night before I arrived .... as a maff student at summer school ....Open Uni - gor we had fun in those days. It got into the News of the Scre....in the article about the social scientists spending THEIR week bonking]

sorry off point ....

[Survivor1234]

Heard from the police today, had to do a personal victim statement, the charge of threats to kill has been dropped but there still charging him with ABH, he pleaded guilty when charged so thankfully it won’t go to trial now , one less thing on my mind

[NoMercy]

I have no idea but if I had to hazzard a guess I'd say he'd be going to prison given his past history.

However, I would just like to say well done for leaving him and cutting him out of your life. There is simply no role for him in your son's life either. I know some people think a child needs both parents but, when all is said and done, no influence is better than a negative influence.

You might want to prepare an impact statement for the court to further the chance of him receiving a custodial sentence.

Finally, give yourself a chance to heal and don't look for another relationship for a good while. When you are ready make it abundantly clear that your child is your number one priority in life and you will not take any nonsense from anyone. That should sort the wheat from the chaffe.

[Survivor1234]

Yes I’ve done an impact personal statement today.

[Survivor1234]

Almost spot on Buenchico, he got 67 1/2 weeks in total.

This was made up of 12 week suspended sentence activated, 1 week for failing to surrender to court and 54 1/2 for the assault ( top end of cat 2 )

He got 1/3 reduduction for a guilty plea ( 22 1/2 weeks ) remaining 45 weeks reduced by half so therefore will be serving 22 1/2 weeks in prison ( already served 4 on judges remand)

I also got an permanent restraining order

He’s still to be charged for breaching the non molestation order as he wrote to me a week after he was remanded in prison so therefore he might get a couple more weeks for that.

Just thought I’d let you know as I’m aware you follow criminal convictions

Thank you for all your support and answers to my questions