Husband who broke wife’s jaw in two places during row over child’s bedtime at their Preston home spared jail
Clement Adigun, a 33-year-old IT engineer, admitted to inflicting grievous bodily harm on his wife during a row over their child's bedtime
An IT engineer blew a fuse and broke his wife’s jaw in two places during a row over their child’s bedtime, a court heard.
Clement Adigun then called the emergency services to get help and handed himself over to police.
The 33-year-old churchgoer, who was supported in court by his pastor, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm on his partner. The couple have since separated.
University graduate Adigun, who was said to have been “devastated” by the injuries he caused his wife, was spared immediate jail by a judge at Preston Crown Court. It was revealed he had no previous convictions and had now completed a voluntary anger management course.
“He very much loves his wife,” said his defence barrister Keira Shaw. “He is hopeful that one day he can repair the damage and she can slowly begin to forgive him for what he has done”.
The court was told that in July this year he called 999 and said he had been involved in a fight with his wife at their home in Preston.
He said he had hit her in the face and needed an ambulance. He also admitted the attack was entirely unprovoked and wanted to talk to police.
He told them he had been taking their four-year-old daughter to bed and his wife had stood in his way because they disagreed about what time the child could stay up until.
In the assault his wife suffered displaced fractures to both sides of her jaw and needed surgery in hospital to repair the damage.
Ms Shaw, representing Adigun, said: “The defendant called the police himself to report himself for this offence.
“He punched his wife multiple times to the face and body and doesn’t dispute that. He accepted he had inflicted these injuries on his wife.
“The defendant recognises entirely that his behaviour on this day towards his wife in the presence of their child was absolutely appalling and he doesn’t seek to justify in any way or excuse what he has done.”
Ms Shaw said the couple had since split up, but his wife had not provided a victim personal statement for the court to describe the impact the assault had had on her.
“He is deeply remorseful for his actions and fully acknowledges his responsibility. He is devastated by the injuries he has caused to his wife.
“Their relationship had been strained for some time due to a lack of communication. They had very recently had a newborn baby and stresses in the relationship and differences in parenting style meant they were not getting on.
“There was a dispute over the daughter’s bedtime and he lost his temper. He shouldn’t have lost his temper, he responded wholly inappropriately. This was a build-up in issues they were experiencing at the time.
“It was not a planned assault, there was no intention there, it was not born out of malice.”
Ms Shaw said the assault had not only had a devastating impact on Adigun’s wife, but also on their four-year-old daughter “who will inevitably been impacted by what happened because she saw it.”
“No child should ever have to witness what she did that day. But he has made no attempt to minimise his behaviour or to blame his wife or shy away from what he did.
“He is having monthly supervised visits with his children and his main priority now is to focus on being the best possible dad he can be to his children.”
She said he was hoping eventually or a reconciliation with his wife who he loved very much. “There is a lot of work to be done.”
Recorder Harriet Johnson told Adigun the offence had been aggravated by the fact their four-year-old was present and witnessed the assault. “No child should ever see that sort of thing. The harm it may do to a child is real.”
She added: “Domestic violence is a violation of trust between a wife and a husband. It is to your credit that you yourself immediately called the emergency services and you waited outside to speak to the police.”
Recorder Johnson sentenced Adigun, who gave his address as Stockdale Road, Higher Blackley, Manchester, to a nine-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months. But she told him: “You are not getting off lightly.”
She also ordered him to complete a 12-month probation requirement and 200 hours of unpaid work. And she warned: “If you fail to comply with that order, you will be brought back to this court and very likely a judge will activate this sentence and send you straight to prison.”