Since she was "playing around with his heart", he tasered her several times
"I’m someone who very rarely loses his temper… The only thing that makes me angry is when someone plays around with my heart", said this 30-year old man (CD) to the court before which he appeared on Thursday morning. His ex-partner found this out firsthand three times. The first time was in February 2015 (he got a suspended prison sentence). The next two incidents occurred in February and March of this year. And today he was summoned before the court for these last two occurrences.
At the beginning of February, the couple separated but the man didn’t take it very well. On one Friday morning, he decided to go to see if "she was sleeping with someone else". He found her in bed with another man. CD left, but he returned later that night drunk. At 3 am, he kicked down the door of the apartment. He was carrying a machete and struck his ex-girlfriend. He also threatened her with a knife and told her that he was going to “put her down”. Then, he left.
“I LOST CONTROL OF MYSELF”
He came back again at around 5 am. He woke his ex-girlfriend by punching her in the face. “Still in love with her”, he wanted to have sex, “lowered his pants and tried to take off her underwear”. But she refused. The young woman managed to run away from the apartment. CD also left the premises and picked up a rock in the parking lot and broke a car’s windshield with it. CD was arrested.
During his custody, he admitted to “having hit her hard in the face”. “I lost control of myself”, he admitted before the judges.
An alcohol test was performed and showed that he still had 1.5 grams of alcohol in his blood.
The young woman filed a complaint but withdrew it a few days later. “He’s the father of my child, I don’t want him to go to prison”, she explained. Summoned before the court as the victim, she was present at this morning's hearing. She listened to her ex-partner and was affected. She was crying. She left the courtroom two times but accepted to answer the judges' questions.
After these first acts of violence, CD could have been quickly sentenced. But the Saint-Martin Public Prosecutor’s department asked that he be examined by an expert. However, this expert won’t be available for a while, he can’t deliver his report before three months from now. In the meantime, CD has once again shown violence.
At the beginning of March, the couple went out on the Dutch side with the young woman’s brother. Everything went well during the day. According to CD, his ex-girlfriend showed him several signs of affection until the evening when she grew somewhat distant while they were at the Heineken Regatta festivities. “She changed when she saw her boyfriends”, he said. However, she denied this. “Remember, we took a selfie together”, she said before the court.
HE ENTERED THE APARTMENT BY THE WINDOW
Later that night, while the young woman was setting the alarm on her mobile phone, she heard a noise in the living room and found herself face to face with CD who had entered the apartment by the window. "She said that she was setting the alarm but that’s not true… She was with her boyfriend, she said that she didn’t give a damn about me", he said to the court. He also added: “I’m a man, I have a heart...you shouldn’t go too far”. He violently grabbed his girlfriend and ordered her to give him the password of her phone. After getting punched several times in the face, she gave it to him. Then, he took hold of the taser which she owns and used it. Several traces on the young woman’s body prove it.
"It was an unbelievable act of violence", said the Deputy Prosecutor Michaël Ohayon who wished to point out the number of wounds and their size found by the forensic physician during the examination of the woman. There was a 5 cm wound on her shoulder which required three stitches. She two other stitches on one finger. She had another stitch on another finger. She had a 15 x 15 cm bruise. Another bruise measured 15 x 10 cm. A bruise on her breast measured 5 x 3 cm. These were the main wounds after the first assault in February. She was on total disability for 5 days. She was once again put on total disability for three weeks for the second incident in March. In addition to having two black eyes and close to a dozen bruises, she was "very shocked psychologically", noted the doctor.
The Deputy Prosecutor believes that CD is “a dangerous man”. He therefore called for two years in prison, including a six-month suspended sentence with probation for two years, and the obligation to receive therapy. He also requested a detention warrant.
After deliberation, the Court sentenced him to eighteen months in prison, including a six-month suspended sentence with two years of probation with the obligation to receive therapy and the prohibition to carry a weapon for five years.
The couple left the courthouse together. Since the month of March, the young woman has not been the victim of any more violence. CD said that "his feelings had changed" and agreed that they could both have "fun" on the side. Nevertheless, they still live together with their four-year-old child under the same roof for financial reasons. But he now sleeps on the couch.
