The face of soft justice Britain
A violent boyfriend left Louise, 27, like this. Now he’s spared jail... and told to give her just £75
A WOMAN left a blood- splattered mess by her violent boyfriend has spoken of her fury after he avoided a jail sentence – and was ordered to pay her just £75 compensation.
Louise Reed, 27, who escaped through a kitchen window after being knocked out by Robert Jenney, 30, slammed the sentence as ‘disgusting’ and insisted: ‘He could have killed me.’
The mother-of-one took photos of herself after the attack to show what Jenney did to her. She posted them on Facebook and gave permission for the images to be publicised so other women ‘know what this monster is capable of’.
Miss Reed said she was beaten up on two occasions by Jenney and knocked unconscious the second time after being punched and head-butted. The ordeal left her traumatised – but was made worse by the sentence imposed at Teesside Magistrates’ Court last week.
Jenney, of Middlesbrough, was given a 12-month community order after admitting two counts of common assault. He received a 12-month restraining order to stay away from Miss Reed.
As well as the £75 compensation, he must pay £165 court costs.
The maximum sentence available for common assault is six months in jail. The next charge up in seriousness is actual bodily harm – which carries a maximum five-year term when dealt with in a crown court.
The case comes after the Daily Mail highlighted the widescale problem of soft justice in the court system that allows violent offenders to avoid prison sentences.
Miss Reed, an administrator with security firm G4S, said: ‘The sentence he received is disgusting – he should have been sent to prison because he could have killed me.
‘I suffer from nightmares and have trouble sleeping, I need to move out of my house and have a fresh start with my daughter. I am suffering from depression but he is free to get on with his life – it feels like he’s been let off.’
Miss Reed, who has a three-yearold daughter, and Jenney had been friends as teenagers and met each other by chance at a Middlesbrough football match. They started to date but the relationship ended with two attacks in the space of two weeks this summer.
She said Jenney had ‘an unforgettable look of hate and anger’ on his face. She added: ‘Being punched, thrown about and headbutted in the face and being made to feel like a prisoner in my own home – having to climb out of the window whilst pouring with blood to run for help – is a memory that will stay with me for ever.’ Miss Reed said Jenney was initially ‘perfect’ and then started to be argumentative and stopped her going out. The rows turned to violence on July 21. She gave him a chance to redeem himself.
But the second assault was worse. She said: ‘He attacked me and left me unconscious. I woke up to see him sitting rolling a cigarette – there was blood everywhere.’
Finding herself locked inside, she managed to escape through a window and contacted police.
Miss Reed said: ‘He is a manipulative, vile, aggressive thug.’
She added: ‘The thing is with these type of people, they have a certain way of making you believe it’s your fault, that you’ve started the argument, that you’ve pushed them to do what they’ve done.’
A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman said: ‘These were distressing incidents and our thoughts are with the victim. The CPS takes the prosecution of domestic abuse extremely seriously and will consider the views of the victim in this case.’
A judge has called for a probe into an ‘insane’ decision to charge a thug with common assault after he dragged his ex-girlfriend from a car and battered her. Judge James O’Mahony described the charge as ‘woefully inadequate’ as he jailed Christopher Boxall, 37, of Aylesham, Kent, at Canterbury Crown Court.
He said the CPS should have charged him with a more serious assault – allowing him to impose a longer sentence. Boxall was jailed for a total of 25 months after admitting a string of other offences including attacking a policeman.