A MAN has been sentenced after a “vicious” headbutt attack on a woman he was having an affair with.
43-year-old garage owner Matthew Jeffreys “flew” at his victim during an altercation at her home in Malvern last year when she threatened to tell his then wife about the affair.
The headbutt caused blood to run down the woman’s face, leaving her with a lasting scar that she said has affected her confidence.
Jeffreys, of Windmill Lane in Stoulton, appeared at Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday (July 28) to be sentenced for the single count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
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Previous assault conviction
The court heard that the business owner was already subject to a 26-week prison sentence, suspended for 24 months, following an assault on his then wife in 2021.
An attempt to appeal the sentence, which he was handed last year, was dismissed.
Impact on latest victim
A victim statement was read to the court on Tuesday, in which the woman said her mental health has been “incredibly low” following the assault and that she suffers daily panic attacks.
She also fears that she will fail her degree, having had to take time off due to stress.
After headbutting her, the woman said Jeffreys had told her to tell the 999 operator that her injury had been an accident.
In a video recorded by Jeffreys, and shown during his trial last month, the victim could be heard saying: “I’m scared of you, please leave.”
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Sentence handed down
During sentencing, magistrates’ accepted that Jeffreys had taken “steps to address his behaviour”, including attending an anger management course.
However, they said that the fact that it had taken place in a domestic context and that it had been a “particularly vicious attack” were aggravating factors.
Jeffreys was handed a 12-month sentence, which has been suspended for two years, as well as a suspension order against contacting his victim directly or indirectly for five years.
The suspended sentence will run consecutively to his current suspended sentence.
He will also have to pay a victim surcharge of £187, and £650 for the costs of prosecution and the trial.
