Man gets 12 months for assaulting nude woman

The Hall of Justice. - File photo

A man from East Trinidad has been sentenced to 12 months with hard labour after a jury convicted him of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in connection with a 2024 attack on a woman inside his home.

Justice Nalini Singh sentenced David Pharai after finding that he assaulted the nude and vulnerable woman after she exited a shower at his residence, delivering several blows to her face and body.

According to the evidence, Pharai and the woman were socialising and drinking before they returned to his home in the pre-dawn hours of May 12, 2024. After taking a shower, Pharai removed her towel, pushed her onto his bed and struck her repeatedly about the face while shouting obscenities. The woman eventually fled the house and got assistance from a neighbour and the police.

At his trial, the jury rejected the defence’s version and convicted him of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He was acquitted of the more serious charges of rape, grievous sexual assault and detention of a person. As such, Singh’s sentence was imposed only for the offence for which he was convicted.

Singh said the assault fell “above the midpoint of seriousness” for the offence because the victim was isolated, unclothed, unable to call for help and subjected to repeated strikes in a private setting. The judge said that these circumstances placed the victim at “the highest end of vulnerability,” even though her injuries, a forehead swelling and a thigh abrasion, were medically modest.

“The court finds that this assault lies at the upper end of the assault occasioning actual bodily harm spectrum, not because the injuries were medically severe, but because of the context of vulnerability, the location, and the repeated nature of the violence.”

The judge began with an 18-month starting point, noting the repeated nature of the blows, the breach of trust within the offender’s home and the need for deterrence in cases involving isolated female victims. Singh rejected prosecution submissions for a three- to four-year starting point.

Pharai’s sentence was reduced by six months after the court considered his personal mitigation, including his previously clean record, stable long-term employment, supportive family network and positive parenting history. Statements from his current and former partners described him as non-violent and calm, and the judge accepted the incident as an isolated departure from his typical behaviour.

The judge also noted Pharai’s strong prospects for rehabilitation and the significant impact of his first experience in custody, but said those factors did not outweigh the seriousness of the assault. She also ruled out a fine or bond.

Pharai will receive credit for time already served while awaiting sentencing.