"Jealous" boyfriend sentenced to 180 hours community service for assault

Wednesday 02 May 2018

A 31-year-old man who was described as a “jealous” and “controlling” boyfriend in Court has been sentenced to 180 hours community service for assaulting his girlfriend.

Fabio Marquez was found guilty of grave and criminal assault by the Magistrate’s Court after he assaulted his girlfriend on 8 December 2017, leaving red marks around her neck, while her son was in the next room.

During his trial, the Court heard that Marquez led a controlling relationship where he had locked his girlfriend in a flat on occasions, isolating her.

He was charged with common assault when the couple had a fight in the bedroom as Marquez was angry. The Court heard that his girlfriend tried to phone her mother, but he stopped her by assaulting her – which the girlfriend said made her start to lose consciousness - but she managed to lock herself in the bathroom with her son before escaping and calling the police.  

During sentencing yesterday, Defence Advocate Adam Harrison told the Magistrate’s Court that although the assault left red marks on the woman’s neck, the injury was “limited.” Magistrate Bridget Shaw, who presided over the trial for the assault in March, disagreed saying it was “significant.”

Advocate Harrison admitted that although Marquez didn’t have the benefit of a guilty plea, or the remorse that normally comes with it, he had no similar convictions and was assessed as low risk of re-offending by the Probation Service. He described the 31-year-old stone mason as a hard worker, with a supportive family and a small circle of friends “who are not known to Court.”

Magistrate Shaw told Marquez he was being sentenced for a “serious matter” as the assault happened in “her own home where she should be safe” with her son in the next room so he “would have known what was happening.”

The Magistrate added that the “…injury itself wasn’t lasting and not serious but does indicate how far you were prepared to go. You had your full weight on top of her and at one point you had lifted your foot to stamp on her face.”

But as he has no previous convictions of a similar nature, Magistrate Shaw sentenced Marquez to 180 hours of community service instead of prison. She also gave him a £200 fine for possessing cannabis and ordered him to pay £800 court costs.

She warned Marquez his “behaviour is not only unacceptable, it is criminal and highly dangerous” requesting the Probation Service to give him support with his jealousy.