A WOMAN sobbed as she described how she thought she ‘was going to die’ while allegedly being attacked in her own flat.
The alleged victim wept as she gave evidence on the third day of the Assize trial of 51-year-old Shawn Le Lay, who is accused of attacking her and her husband, breaking the furniture in their home and later biting a police officer’s leg.
Mr Le Lay denies three charges of grave and criminal assault and one of malicious damage.
Answering questions from Crown Advocate Simon Thomas, prosecuting, in the Royal Court yesterday, the woman said that Mr Le Lay had come to their flat on the afternoon of 6 August last year. Her husband is the caretaker of the flats where Mr Le Lay was living.
She said the defendant arrived and was arguing about a missing package and an eviction notice ordering him to move out within three months, and that he wanted the phone number of the manager of the flats.
The woman told the court: ‘We were told not to give out her number, so my husband told him to email her. Then he [Mr Le Lay] punched my husband in the head.’
The court heard how the alleged victim’s husband then reached for a riding crop they kept in their kitchen. She continued: ‘Shawn managed to take it from him and hit him with it.’
She sobbed as she added: ‘He grabbed my right breast and twisted it. I was screaming and telling him to stop. He grabbed my neck to strangle me and tried to bite my hand.’
The woman then broke down in tears and had to pause to regain her composure before saying: ‘Then he put his hands on my head and tried to twist it. I thought I was going to die. He was trying to break my neck.’
She told the court that her husband managed to make the defendant release his grip. She said Mr Le Lay then pulled down a chest of drawers, damaging it.
She added: ‘He made a noise like an animal and pushed me down. I fell on my back.’
Mr Le Lay then left their flat, the court heard. The alleged victim estimated that he had been there for 15 to 20 minutes. After the States police arrived a short time later, the couple were taken to hospital.
Mr Le Lay is currently on remand in La Moye Prison and has not appeared in court during the first three days of the trial, which is expected to conclude this week.
