The case in summary A woman has been sentenced in the Vestfold district court to four and a half years in prison for mistreating her husband throughout most of their two-year relationship. The woman has also been banned from contacting the man for the next five years and must pay him almost NOK 630,000 in compensation. The abuse included both physical and psychological violence, and the man was at one point admitted to hospital with life-threatening injuries. The woman initially denied the accusations, but changed her explanation during the trial and admitted parts of the abuse. The woman must also pay NOK 130,000 in compensation to her underage son who witnessed parts of the abuse. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. In addition to the prison sentence, the woman is also banned from contacting the man for the next five years. She must also pay him almost NOK 630,000 in compensation. Lawyers Stian Mork Sletten and Ola Sønju Bårnes are the woman’s defenders. Sletten tells news that the woman is disappointed by the verdict. Photo: Hans Philip Hofgaard / news The woman’s defender, lawyer Stian Mork Sletten, tells news that the woman takes the sentence seriously. – She was prepared for what the outcome could be, but is naturally very disappointed, says Sletten. He says that the woman disagrees with many of the court’s assessments. Quickly became a couple The couple became known in the summer of 2021 when the woman posted comments on the man’s videos in social media. They started talking on the phone and after a while the woman moved in with the man in Tønsberg. She had a minor son with her, to whom the husband became stepfather. The couple got married and bought a joint flat in Tønsberg where they lived until the woman was arrested last autumn. The woman believed that something was wrong with the man and arranged for him to be examined by doctors. They determined that the man was mildly mentally retarded. Poo on himself During the relationship he also had problems with involuntary defecation. This meant that he often did not make it to the bathroom in time. This was a major source of irritation, the woman admitted during the criminal case against her. In one case, the woman smeared her faeces over her spouse’s face. Despite being annoyed that the man pooped on her, she refused him to go to the bathroom. – The fact that he was punished for the accidents with defecation for which he could do nothing, and which could have been avoided if he had been allowed to go to the toilet, is also found to aggravate the court’s punishment, the judgment says. The man ended up in hospital when the woman could not breathe in him one morning when they had spent the night with one of the woman’s adult children. Life-threatening injuries In the weeks before, the couple had been on a camping trip, where the man, among other things, had to lie outside. The couple camped here for several weeks last summer. The man had to lie outside the tent without a sleeping pad and sleeping bag. Photo: The police At the hospital, life-threatening injuries were found on the man. The injuries were so severe that he was put into an artificial coma. By then he had a number of infected wounds, extensive damage to the scrotum, severe malnutrition, very low blood sugar, pneumonia and blood poisoning. In addition, he had a serious eye injury after a blow. The injury has resulted in the man now being blind in one eye. A few days after hospitalization, the woman was arrested. She has denied criminal guilt and repeated it when the trial against her began. When it was her turn in the witness box, she changed her explanation and admitted that she had been mean to the man. However, she admitted only parts of the gross abuse she was accused of. Both physical and psychological abuse Vestfold district court determines that the woman has had almost total control over her husband 24 hours a day over a period of one and a half years. The court has no doubt that she regularly both hit and kicked the man, locked him outside in the winter without shoes, forced him to wash his clothes outdoors in the cold, threatened him with violence and forced him to sleep on the floor without a mattress. – The court has found evidence that the victim lived in a regime of psychological violence that only got worse and worse, and which ultimately meant that he was close to dying as a combination of the physical and psychological abuse he was subjected to from the defendant, states that in the judgement. The woman was served the sentence in the prison where she has been in custody since she was arrested a year ago. Lawyer Stian Mork Sletten believes that the decision is likely to be appealed. Photo: Hans Philip Hofgaard / news – We must review the judgment thoroughly before we consider an appeal, but it is likely that the judgment will be appealed, says the defense lawyer. He believes that it may be appropriate to appeal against both the proceedings, the legal notice and the civil claims. State Attorney Christer Gangsø is satisfied that the Vestfold District Court has assessed the evidence in the same way as the prosecution. State Attorney Christer Gangsø is satisfied with the verdict from the Vestfold district court. Photo: Tom Erik Haugland / news – We note that the district court has largely followed the prosecution’s argumentation in the case, and is satisfied with that, says Gangsø to news. Taking her life back Knut-Erik Storlykken Søvik is a legal aid lawyer for the woman’s ex-husband. He says the man is in the process of taking his life back after the abuse. Photo: Magnus Skatvedt Iversen / news The man’s assistance lawyer, Knut-Erik Storlykken Søvik, believes the court has delivered a judgment that describes the seriousness of what has happened in a thorough manner. – How does your client react to the verdict? – He has taken note of it. For him, this is not necessarily a day of joy, but he appreciates that he has been heard and that he has been believed, says Søvik. A little over a year has passed since the man was picked up by an ambulance in a life-threatening condition. The social assistance lawyer says the man has taken the time to help and is far better now than a year ago. – He has come quite far in taking back his life. He is active both in connection with work and appreciates what society has to offer. I think he is very positive about the future, says Søvik. The woman has also been found guilty of mistreating her minor son by witnessing her husband being mistreated. Therefore, she must also pay NOK 130,000 in compensation to her son. Published 09.10.2024, at 11.55 Updated 09.10.2024, at 18.56
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Woman sentenced for gross abuse by her husband – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
