Jealous man jailed for attacks on partner in South Yorkshire

Vasillica Toma was drinking and smoking cannabis when he began punching the woman in the face and nose on July 12, prosecutor Brian Outhwaite said.

"She says she screamed as loud as she could but no one came to help her," he said. "It was a brief assault. She saw blood on her clothing, on the wall, and in the bathroom.

"She suffered injuries to her lip, a small mark to the chin and a bruise to the side of her neck. She says he was crying and upset over what he had done."

Three days later, Toma began drinking in the morning and later began arguing. He slapped and punched her to the head and when she fell to the floor, he continued to assault her, saying: "I will do it good this time."

She managed to get up and to the door, but it was locked. He grabbed her and threw her across the room. He punched her again, and she managed to avoid a kick to the face.

"She said in a statement she thought she was going to die at the hands of this defendant," said Mr Outhwaite.

She managed to get outside the flat and call the police, but he found her at a bus stop in Doncaster and began hurling verbal abuse at her.

A witness said the woman looked "absolutely petrified" and "had blood on her face." She tried to block Vasillica with her shopping trolley, but he ran around it and continued his pursuit.

The witness and her daughter followed him and found him hitting the complainant "as hard as he could" in the face.

A CT scan at Doncaster showed a small bleed on the woman’s brain and she was kept in for 48 hours for observation. She was bitten on the forearm, knee and shin, doctors found.

In police interview, he blamed her for the violence and claimed she was mentally ill and a prostitute.

Edward Moss, mitigating, said Toma was of previous good character and worked locally in a sandwich factory.

"She wants to bring this matter to a close and move on," he said. "They both seek to pursue the relationship.

"But he is under no illusion that these offences pass the custody threshold. Drink and drugs played their part.

"This was a one-off incident when there were particular pressures applied to the relationship.

"He is truly sorry. He has now spent approaching four months in custody, and he has found it particularly difficult."

Toma, aged 24, of Woodfield Road, Balby, pleaded guilty – via a Romanian interpreter – to battery and assault occasioning actual bodily harm when he appeared at Sheffield Crown Court.

Judge Graham Reeds QC described him as “particularly immature” and said he tried to avoid responsibility for what he had done.

“I don’t see any real remorse reflected in your plea of guilty,” he said, and handed Toma a 15-month prison sentence.

Read the latest cases from Sheffield Crown Court here.

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