Three years for violent ex-lover who drove young mother to hang herself
THE family of a woman who killed herself after being repeatedly abused by her boyfriend insist they will challenge his jail sentence of three years and four months.
In one attack Joseph Falconer, 33, battered mum-of-two Gemma Robinson, 34, after she had been on a night out with a friend.
He grabbed her throat before repeatedly punching her in the head and face, leading her to fear she was going to be murdered, Maidstone Crown Court heard.
With each blow, he said “Yeah”, then, when she collapsed, he spat on her and left her lying on the floor with severe injuries, including a fractured eye socket.
Gemma’s family claim the fitness instructor was so terrified of
Falconer that nine months after the attack she hanged herself at home in Dartmouth rather than face him in court.
Her family say his sentence is unduly lenient and they will appeal. Gemma’s sister Kirsty Robinson, 33, said: “He is 100 per cent to blame [for her suicide]. She was very outgoing, very friendly, popular – but he left her unrecognisable as a person. “She was a shadow of herself. “I had to help her because she had to eat through a straw where her mouth was all cut. She was crying at night, struggling to get up in the mornings and be a mum, and was petrified of coming to court and facing him. She loved him but he beat her to a pulp.”
Falconer, of St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, admitted causing grievous bodily harm and criminal damage.The Crossrail worker was subject to a restraining order at the time of the beating, following a previous attack on Gemma.
He claimed she “provoked” him by making a comment that upset him. He also stole £500 from her bank account and spent it on online gambling.The couple split in 2019 after four years together. Gemma died in November 2019.
Recorder Matthew McDonagh told Falconer: “You are a dangerous, jealous, controlling man who took full advantage of the physical strength you have.”