Mobile phone recordings help convict attacker

Wednesday 27 July 2022

Photographs and sound recordings captured using a mobile phone have helped convict a man who committed a series of assaults on a woman several years ago.

Sentencing Diogo Sousa Nascimento to 120 hours community service for two counts of assault and a third charge of grave and criminal assault, Assistant Magistrate Peter Harris said it was only because the accused had "turned his life around in recent years" that he was not being sent to prison.

Originally the victim had not pressed charges, but after Nascimento tried to get back in touch with her in February using a fake Facebook account, she became frightened and contacted the police.

The Magistrate's Court was told on Friday that the first assault happened in their home in 2017. They were getting ready to go out and the victim was in the bathroom.

Frustrated with the time it is was taking her, Nascimento grabbed her and tried to usher her along bruising her arm. To conceal the injury she wore a bandage, but before applying it she photographed the bruising using her mobile phone.

The second assault happened at their workplace in September 2018. In a fit of anger, Nascimento punched her in the face. A colleague heard the victim scream and came to find out what was happening. Again, she took photographs. That night, frightened by what might happen if she went home, the victim slept in her car.

The third and most serious attack happened in January 2019. The victim had just come home from work and noticed Nascimento was in a bad mood. He started an argument and grabbed her "by the throat". The accused told the court she could not breath and feared he was "going to kill her". He only released her because his phone rang. She hid in the bathroom and recorded him shouting abusive threats in the hallway.

In the words of Assistant Magistrate Peter Harris, since the incidents, Nascimento "has moved on" and has learned to control his drinking.

Because of that, he opted to sentence Nascimento to community service rather than prison. He also issued a restraining order preventing the accused from either directly or indirectly trying to contact the victim.