A WOMAN has described how she begged a man not to hit her during a sustained attack which left her fearing for her life.
John Sebastian Nicolle (51) is accused of punching, kicking and throttling the woman and kicking her dog in the assault, the Royal Court heard.
Mr Nicolle denies one count of grave and criminal assault.
Crown Advocate Lauren Hallam, prosecuting, told the jury that Mr Nicolle repeatedly attacked the woman over the course of an afternoon.
Advocate Hallam said Mr Nicolle spat at the alleged victim’s face, and when she cowered on the floor kicked, punched and attempted to strangle her, leaving her struggling to breathe.
“The defendant is a controlling and aggressive man who loses his temper,” she said. “[The alleged victim] had a blue eye. She had marks to her neck. She had bruising behind her ear. She had bruising to her arm. She had abrasions to her back.
“All of these were caused by the defendant.”
Giving evidence on Tuesday 19 March, on the first day of the trial, the alleged victim said Mr Nicolle had become angry and had started attacking her in front of his family, insulting her and spitting at her, which left her feeling “disgusting”.
“He kicked the table and it went flying… His drink went flying with it and everything that was on the table went flying with it,” the alleged victim said.
He then sent his two relatives away, the court heard. The woman described curling up into a ball and begging: “Please don’t hit me. Please don’t hit me. Please don’t hit me.”
She described how the defendant kicked her dog and kicked her in the chest.
Crown Advocate Hallam asked: “How did you feel?”
“Terrified,” the woman said.
“How did you feel physically?” the advocate asked her.
She replied: “I thought: ‘This is it.’ ”
He attacked her again later that day, the alleged victim said, slapping her.
The victim said she did not remember if he had used closed fists, describing how she was left unconscious after the attack.
During an appointment, the woman’s GP – who also works as a forensic medical examiner – spotted bruises from the incident.
The court was shown pictures of the injuries, which the woman said were all caused by the defendant.
Advocate Rui Tremoceiro, defending, put to the alleged victim that this had not happened.
The woman’s injuries came from building a wardrobe which had fallen on her, he argued. Had the assault really happened, he said, the woman’s dog – described as a large animal – would have defended her.
The woman denied this, saying: “He never showed signs of being protective of me.
“He just floundered along. Everybody knew [the dog] as a chilled-out dog.”
Commissioner Alan Binnington is presiding.
The trial continues.
