Fabio Emanuel Nobrega Marques (31), of Westmount Road, was instead sentenced to 180 hours of community service and ordered to complete six months’ probation for committing a grave and criminal assault.
Marques, who carried out the assault at an address in St Helier on 8 December last year, was ordered to pay £800 to meet prosecution costs. He was also fined £200 for possession of cannabis.
The defendant was found guilty of putting his hand on the throat of the victim and pressing so hard it left red marks.
In sentencing, the Magistrate, Bridget Shaw, said: ‘You pressed hard enough to cause an injury to her throat. She felt as if she was losing consciousness at one point.’
Mrs Shaw said this was a ‘serious matter’ and added: ‘We had to have a trial and the victim had to give evidence.’
She said that the assault happened in the victim’s own home and the defendant had locked the woman inside the flat and isolated her.
‘You admitted yourself that you were angry and you lifted up the bed. At one point the victim hid in the bathroom. This sort of behaviour is not only unacceptable but it is criminal and highly dangerous. This case was right at the top of my sentencing power,’ said Mrs Shaw.
Advocate Adam Harrison, defending, submitted that the court could deal with the case by imposing a community service order. He said: ‘It was an unpleasant assault but injuries were limited.’
He said that Marques was a moderate drinker who occasionally used cannabis. He said the defendant, who moved to the Island in 2016, ‘was at low risk of reoffending and had no relevant previous convictions’.
He submitted that going through the criminal process had been a salutary lesson to his client.
