Driver jailed for assaulting ex-wife after finding messages from another man on her phone

A52-year-old lorry driver, who hit his ex-wife with a baton after he found messages from another man in her mobile phone, has been sentenced to more than two years imprisonment.

The man was sentenced by Judge Justice Riyaz Hamza at the High Court in Suva on February 6.

He had pleaded guilty to two counts of act with intent to cause grievous harm.

Justice Hamza said serious injuries were caused to the heads of his ex-wife and stepson, who had tried to stop him from beating his ex-wife. “As per the medical report of the first victim, she had sustained multiple traumatic injuries to her head.

“Similarly, as per the medical report of the second victim, he had sustained swelling over the right side of his head and his hand was swollen and had abrasions.

“You have submitted that you are truly remorseful of your actions and that you deeply regret your acts and cooperated with the Police when you were taken in for questioning.

“However, there are frequent prevalence of offences of this nature in our society today,” Justice Hamza said.

The lorry driver was sentenced to two years and eight months imprisonment with a non-parole period of two years.

Considering the time spent in remand, the time remaining to be served was two years and six months imprisonment with a nonparole period of one year and 10 months’ imprisonment.

The incident took place on September 28, 2018, at Cunningham in Suva. With intent to cause grievous harm to his ex-wife, 47, and stepson, 23, the man unlawfully wounded the complainants’ by hitting them with a baton.

On the day of the offending, the man returned from work in the evening when he heard message notifications coming from his exwife’s phone.

He had then accessed her phone and read the messages. He discovered that his ex-wife was having an affair with another man, and they were devising a plan to live together in his house in Cunningham.

The man got into an argument with his ex-wife, and later got his black security guard baton and struck his ex-wife on her head several times.

The man’s stepson went to help her, but was also beaten on his head and hand.

In his mitigation, the man had submitted that after he discovered the messages, he felt betrayed and shocked with his ex-wife and this resulted in the assault.

However, he had admitted that there was no justification for the cause or manner in which he attacked the two victims.

The driver was given 30 days to appeal to the Court of Appeal.