Extreme domestic abuse on pregnant woman "appalling"

Friday 26 October 2018

Guernsey's Magistrates Court has handed down almost the maximum sentence it can, to a man who was arrested after a "prolonged assault" on his pregnant ex-girlfriend.

Kris Ferbrache, 31 , will be behind bars for two years and four months for his "appalling" assault on the woman, which left her covered in marks and bruises.

He was given two years for the assault, and a suspended sentence he was given earlier in the year was activated, giving him an additional four months inside. 

The most recent assault took place when Ferbrache was with his ex and her young son one morning at his house, when the two were discussing Ferbrache's relationship with another woman. This led the defendant to become angry, and he eventually attacked the woman in a "prolonged" and "gruesome" assault. 

Ferbrache was charged with assaulting the claimant and damaging her phone, but the level of domestic abuse was so extreme, Judge Graeme McKerrell said Ferbrache was lucky to not be being sentenced in front of the Royal Court, which has stronger powers.

The court heard it was when his former partner tried to leave Ferbrache's house that the assault began. He grabbed the keys off her and then grabbed her hair, dragging her to the ground. 

He then dragged his ex-girlfriend into another room, before pushing her up against the wall and grabbing her throat. She managed to escape by kneeing him in the groin - an act of self defence in the court's eyes - but he chased after her and took hold of her hair again, he pushed her to the ground and put his foot on her face to hold her down.

It was then the woman said she felt sick, and vomited on the floor. Ferbrache made her clean that up with her jacket, while he smashed her phone on the ground. Following this, the court heard he poured water over her head. She ran to the toilet, to be sick again, but Ferbrache held her head in the basin and flushed the toilet with it in. All before ripping her top off and whipping her with it. This was while shouting about how the baby the woman was carrying was not his, and punching her in the stomach.

"The facts in this case are beyond belief," Judge Graeme McKerrell said. 

The relentless abuse only stopped when Ferbrache's mother turned up at the house, and dragged him away. She then helped the woman to get dressed and recover, before shouting at her son, and escorting her out of his house, where she "apologised profusely".

When the woman got home, she called the police, and Ferbrache was arrested the same day. She was also taken to the Emergency Department, where she was cleared of any permanent damage and the baby was checked over, and was fine. 

The suspended sentence Ferbrache had was in direct alternative to a community service order he received after being caught in possession of, and cultivating, cannabis. He had completed a portion of that community service order, but breaking the law again activates that prison sentence.

Speaking in his defence, the defendant's advocate said his client had been dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for 18 months, and this event had been the result of an emotional breakdown. The court was also told how arguments were a regular occurrence throughout the couple's 10 month relationship.

Judge McKerrell said the facts in this case were "beyond belief".

"A sustained assault on a pregnant lady.. this is domestic violence at the upper end of the scale," he said. "These were appalling circumstances."

In total, Ferbrache was given two years for the assault charge, three months to be served concurrently with the two year sentence for damaging the phone, then a consecutive one month sentence for possession of cannabis and three months for cultivating it. He was first remanded in custody on the 20 June.