Michael Diver, 44, admitted two offences under the Domestic Abuse and Related Provisions Law, plus taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent and using it without insurance.
The Magistrate’s Court was told that the couple had flown to Turkey, where the defendant was due to have dental treatment.
During an argument there he threw a vape at her which hit her in the chest, and elbowed her in the ribs. She was scared and decided to return home without him knowing. She waited until he was asleep and left the hotel.
On arrival back in Guernsey, customs officers could see a bruise on her chest which had resulted from the vape being thrown at her, and she told them what had happened.
Some three months later the couple had been drinking at a hotel at lunchtime before returning home. The woman went out for a walk and when she returned a few hours later, the defendant had consumed four bottles of wine and six cans of lager.
She did not know why, but he lost his temper and struck her in the face, which caused her to fall to the floor. While she lay there he struck her five times and poured wine over her. He apologised the following morning and said he did not know why he had done it.
A couple of days later the woman returned home to find that her car was not there. She drove around the block and by the time she got home it was back. When she challenged him about it, Diver said he had wanted to try the car out. The woman had not given him permission to drive it.
In interview he said he could remember nothing of the incident but then said he could remember everything. He had initially denied taking the woman’s car and hitting her at her home.
Defending, Advocate Martha Male said her client had now spent four months in custody which had had a profound effect on him.
He had been separated from his loved ones who did not live on the island and he wanted to return to Ireland.
He was taking steps to address mental health issues and had not been complying with his medical prescriptions at the time. He had been experiencing anxiety attacks in prison.
Judge Gary Perry said any personal relationship that involved violence was treated very seriously by the court and this had involved a direct assault on his then partner.
While he could make some allowance for the four months the defendant had spent in custody, it had been his own fault as he had breached his bail, so the sentence he would impose would start from today.
Diver was jailed for four months, consecutive, for each of the domestic abuse offences and a restraining order was imposed. One month, concurrent, was meted for taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent.
No separate penalty was imposed for the no insurance matter, though the motoring offences each carried driving bans of 12 months, concurrent.