Man who left woman "in fear for her life" given "chance" by court

Friday 12 July 2019

A 26-year-old, who grabbed a woman by the throat, threw her down, knelt on her head and threatened to kill her in an attack that left her "in fear for her life", has been given "a chance" by the Royal Court.

Charged with grave and criminal assault, Hugo Filipe Gouveia Alves was this afternoon ordered to undertake 180 hours' community service and given a 12-month probation order - rather than a jail sentence.

The Attorney General Robert MacRae told the Court that the attack took place on the 16 February of this year when an argument between Alves and the woman escalated into a physical confrontation.

Pictured: The Attorney General appeared for the prosecution.

Alves was said to have “grabbed her by the throat with sufficient force that he glasses were caused to fly from her face.” Of the attack, the woman said that she was “very scared and in fear for her life.”

She tried to get away, but he “forcefully” pushed her down - grabbing her neck again, and throwing her down.

The Court was told that at this point, the woman fought back “in self-defence” by grabbing his private parts to get him to back off, but he then “placed his knee on the right side of [her] head”, prompting her to say “I can’t breathe.” 

She claims that he responded by saying: “You deserve to die, I could kill you right here right now.”

Pictured: The case was heard in the Royal Court.

The woman managed to escape from him and called the Police. It was heard that during the assault, Alves also tore the woman’s jacket for which he was also convicted of a single charge of malicious damage. 

The Attorney General asked the Court to impose an 18-month prison sentence for the crime.

In contrast, Alves’ lawyer Advocate Michael Haines said that although his client admitted that there was “no justification or excuse” for the attack, he described the offence as being “at the lower end of the scale” of a grave and criminal assault. 

Observing that there were “no permanent injuries” as a result of the incident, the defence Advocate emphasised that Alves has “no previous criminal record” and invited the Court to impose a non-custodial sentence for the offences. 

He added that the “community is best served” by this decision.

Pictured: The Court heard that the victim called the Police directly after the incident.

Handing down the Court’s decision, the Deputy Bailiff Tim Le Cocq – presiding – said that the Jurats “somewhat exceptionally” agreed that a community service order was the appropriate sentence in this case.

The case was heard by Jurats Dulake and Ronge.

Addressing Alves directly, the Deputy Bailiff cautioned the 26-year-old: “We want to warn you that we are giving you a chance… We are giving you an opportunity to put this behaviour behind you… This is your chance and we hope that you will take it.”