The incident began with a threatening remark during a bitter personal crisis: a husband, while in the presence of his partner and their young child, stated that he would throw himself from a height with the child in his arms. This warning came amid a long marriage, the birth of another daughter, and a pivotal moment when the couple faced serious tensions. The history could be described as a troubled union that had already seen years of strain, including a separation and a struggle to keep the family intact as the children grew older.
On July 22, 2022, a decisive and tense confrontation occurred. The person who reported the incident described a moment when, after consuming a beer, the husband criticized the behavior of his partner. In that exchange, the complainant indicated that the couple had reached a point where divorce seemed the most plausible path forward, especially given the ongoing conflict and the fear for the safety of the individuals involved.
During the proceedings, the ex-wife provided a statement to a gender violence tribunal, noting a pattern of heavy drinking by the husband, a tendency that persisted after the separation and culminated in his acting while intoxicated in the presence of the child, in a manner that suggested a lack of restraint. The allegation centered on a dangerous escalation that manifested in him behaving as though he would harm both children and himself in a volatile confrontation.
The defendant admitted to making two threats: one directed at his underage daughter involving an intent to jump from a height with the child in his arms, and another directed at the ex-wife. These facts were acknowledged by the Zamora Criminal Court, and they played a significant role in shaping the sentence handed down.
The magistrate ultimately imposed a sentence that included a period of performing community service, a two-year ban on contact with the two victims, and restrictions on communication by any means to anyone involved in the case. The prosecution had argued for two years in prison—one year for each threat—but the defense and the court reached a compromise in which community service and a potential dismissal followed after a twelve-month period, taking into account the countervailing factors and the effort to prioritize the safety of the child and the complainant, alongside protective restraining orders.
“Bitch, I’m gonna ruin your life”
The younger child’s mother had to endure repeated harassment from her ex-husband, including insults and threats intended to intimidate during the divorce proceedings. The language used included terms meant to belittle and coerce, while the man threatened to ruin her life as a consequence of the separation, expressing explicit hostility toward the ex-spouse and the process itself.
When the man acknowledged the facts attributed to him, the gender violence prosecutor confirmed that insults toward his ex-wife had occurred and that there was an attempt to physically hold the daughter during a heated moment when the participant claimed his mother would not permit such an action. The incident involved alcohol consumption, and the complainant claimed the husband was not in a position to care for or protect his daughter in that moment.
The victim stated that she had suffered abuse and insults during the marriage, but she had not previously reported gender-based violence due to psychological abuse. As a result, the defendant did not have a criminal record in relation to these specific allegations.
Control and alcohol dependency
The convicted individual described a pattern of isolation and persistent threats toward the victims of sexist violence in the months following the divorce. The adult daughter confirmed that her father frequently drank excessively, noting that he tended to become intoxicated when his daughter was scheduled to be with her sister. After the breakup, the ex-husband began to exercise control through a string of messages and calls that insisted on his dominance and signaled his desire to unsettle his former partner. When there was no response, the ex-husband intensified the threat, contributing to the legal case and the resulting sentence.
The woman reported that her ex-husband assumed a controlling role after the separation, sending multiple messages and pressuring her with statements that implied she was ruining his life. She described the emotional toll of the communications and the impact on daily life, including taking her youngest child to work while the ex-husband continued to issue threats that factored into the court’s ruling.
uncontested divorce
There was a period of an uncontested divorce that allowed the father to spend time with the daughter, a situation that persisted for two years. A settlement, however, did not satisfy the convicted individual, and just days before the family departed their home, he threatened to jump from the window with the child, signaling a relapse into the coercive pattern that had defined the relationship and underscoring the risk to the children involved.