Convicted of breach of the peace and grave and criminal assault after pleading ‘guilty’ to the charges, Moiro was yesterday sentenced for the offences which took place last year.
The incident took place at and around Moiro’s place of residence and involved two women he was having an argument with at the time.
Crown Advocate Matthew Maletroit appeared for the prosecution and summarised the facts of the case for the Court.
Pictured: The case was sentenced in the Royal Court.
He recounted that the first part of the offence saw Moiro come out of the property after one woman – referred to as ‘G’ by the Court – pulled up outside his address. The prosecutor told the Court that Moiro came out of his property “wearing a hooded top with the hood pulled up over his head, and a bandana covering his mouth and nose,” adding that Moiro “was holding a baseball bat.”
The woman was recording the defendant on her mobile phone from her car when Moiro “stood directly outside the driver’s window, with the bat raised and pointing at [her]”.
Then, Moiro said “If you don’t get away from my f****** door, I swear to God”. However, when he saw that the woman had brought her young son with her in the car, Moiro “went back inside”.
Regarding the ‘assault’ aspect of the incident, shortly after another woman – referred to as ‘C’ – arrived at the property in her car, blocking G’s car in. Moiro and C had been arguing previously to this, during which time “she threw his phone to the ground in anger”.
Having managed to get in the building, C “began banging on the door to the defendant’s flat. She attempted to open the door, which was unlocked, but the defendant pushed back on the door from the other side to prevent it being opened.”
During this, Moiro “picked up a knife from the kitchen”. Explaining the next events, the Crown Advocate said: “As the defendant left his position in front of the door, it was pushed open by [C]. The mechanics of what happened next are unclear. However, it would appear that the knife was raised by the defendant, or was pointed towards [C] because when she reached forward towards the defendant she suffered a cut on her hand.”
Of this, C’s statement recalls: “It was a quick movement and he was angry. He seemed to be trying to scare me away.”
Both sides agree that Moiro did not intend to stab C, but rather he was using it to frighten her.
The prosecutor continued: “Realising that [C] had been injured by the knife, the defendant went back inside his flat and picked up a tea towel which he then offered to [her] to cover her hand. [She] entered the defendant’s flat and continued shouting at him. [G] also entered the flat. Both women were upset and [C] slapped the defendant. The defendant alleges that she [C] also damaged some property within the flat.”
Deputy Bailiff Robert MacRae and Jurats Steven Austin-Vautier and Kim Averty were shown both the baseball bat and kitchen knife used by Moiro on the evening in question.
Pictured: Deputy Bailiff Robert MacRae was presiding.
The Court was told that as a result of the assault, C “suffered a 4cm wound on the back of her left hand which required five stitches.”
Speaking about the impact of the injury on the woman, Crown Advocate Maletroit explained that “she was unable to continue working” as a result due to the initial injury and then complications with the wound getting infected.
The Crown invited the Court to impose a prison sentence of 18 months for the offences.
On her client’s behalf, Advocate Sarah Dale rather asked for a non-custodial sentence to be imposed due to Moiro’s particular family circumstances.
She emphasised that throughout the incident, Moiro attempted to diffuse the situation. For example, after he saw there was a child present in G’s car, he went back into his address.
As for the assault, Advocate Dale said that “not knowing what to do at the time [Moiro] made the wrong decision” and he did this to “try and scare her away”. The defence lawyer also focused on the fact that he was without a phone to call the Police and she alleged that when he “repeatedly” asked G to call them, she refused and just continued to film him on her mobile.
Advocate Dale maintained that C smashed a television in her client’s flat with his baseball bat amd that she assaulted him by “striking him twice to the face”.
The defence lawyer also gave detailed submissions regarding the difficult nature of Moiro’s personal and family circumstances – the details of which, Express has chosen not to report in order to protect the privacy and identities of those involved.
Handing down the Court’s decision, the Deputy Bailiff cautioned Moiro that had it not been for these circumstances, the Court would have “no hesitation” in sending him to prison.
But given Moiro’s situation, the Court decided to “take an exceptional course” and impose a non-custodial sentence.
Moiro was therefore sentenced to 180 hours’ community service and a 24-month probation order. He was also made to compensate C £1,000 for her losses and the court also imposed a restraining order preventing him from contacting her.
Addressing Moiro directly, the Deputy Bailiff warned him: “I hope you understand how close you came to going back to custody today.”