Man jailed for assaults against women

Friday 17 March 2017

Jersey's Royal Court has sentenced a man to 21 months in jail after he separately assaulted two women, and for resisting arrest.

37-year-old Gavin Neil Starks appeared in Court today for sentencing.

Crown advocate Julian Gollop, prosecuting, originally requested a sentence of 25 months in prison, as well as a restraining order. He argued that "...all of the offences involve violence to differing degrees; two of the offences including the most serious one of grave and criminal assault, relate to repeated violence against two women."

Defending advocate James Bell told the Court that the requested sentence was "excessive", explaining that both assaults were "unacceptable behaviour" but they were on "the modest end of the scale" in each case. 

Handing down his sentence, the Bailiff, William Bailhache, who sat with Jurats Paul Nicolle and Jerry Ramsden told Starks he needed to learn, "...to respect women and a woman's choice."

Concerning one of the assaults, he said: "It is notable that she was so frightened, she hid in a cupboard. This gives a proper perspective of the nature of the assault."

He also added that, "...assault on women is something this Court treats seriously."

As a result, the Bailiff handed Starks a 21-month sentence.