Man spared jail after second assault on same woman

Thursday 26 October 2017

A 26-year-old man who breached a probation order by assaulting his victim a second time has been given a "further chance" by the Magistrate's Court and put under a nine-month probation order.

Fabio Da Silva Abreu had been put under a nine-month probation order in May after he had assaulted the same woman.

He was facing a single charge of assault after a second incident which took place on 14 August. The court heard that as the woman returned from a friend's house at 11:30, she found Abreu in her home. An argument started and Abreu left before coming back shortly after and ringing the bell several times. As the victim ignored him he attempted to throw a stone at her bedroom window before leaving again. This continued for some time until he came back and shouted abuse in the street. At one point, the victim opened the door and Abreu slapped her. The woman lost her balance and fell to the ground, where Abreu kicked her before leaving again.  

Handing out his sentence, Relief Magistrate David Le Cornu told Abreu: "There are very sad things in the social enquiry report but this is not justification for continuing to get into trouble." He however decided to give Abreu a "further chance." He revoked the previous probation order and decided not to take any action in regards to its breach. He then issued a new probation order for nine months and told Abreu, "It’s up to you to make it work."

He then added: "Follow the advice of the probation officer. If you come back to court during the period of your probation, having committed a further offence you will very likely receive a custodial sentence."

He also imposed a restraining order preventing Abreu from contacting the victim, stating: "If you breach it by contacting the victim that is also a very serious matter and it could lead to a custodial sentence."

Before Abreu left court the Relief Magistrate told him, "Take this chance I am giving you and I hope we won’t be seeing you again."