The Criminal Court number 1 of Arrecife has sentenced a man accused of mistreating his wife in Lanzarote for two years to six and a half years in prison. The wife suffered numerous injuries, as well as psychological violence and threats, being subjected to a "true ordeal". "This is the most serious and brutal case of mistreatment of a woman that this judge has tried throughout her professional career," Judge Aitziber Oleaga points out in the ruling.
The events took place between 2015 and 2017 and the defendant had already been sentenced in December 2017. However, this was annulled by the Provincial Court of Las Palmas by means of a new ruling on February 6, 2018, which agreed to repeat the trial with a different judge, a hearing that was held on September 11.
The ruling considers it proven that, from the beginning of the relationship, Nicolás Leandro Caldas had been maintaining "a dominant and humiliating behavior towards his partner, directing insulting expressions and insults at her" and exercising "social and family control over her, as he reproached her for being able to relate to other people." Likewise, "he broke family furniture, threw food at the walls, pushed her, directed intimidating gestures towards her and towards domestic animals, two of whom finally died."
An aggression that lasted "at least" nine hours and caused 18 injuries
In addition, during the two years there were "three relevant episodes", one of them in which the victim suffered up to 18 injuries as a result of an aggression by the accused that lasted for "at least" nine hours and that the judge describes as a "true ordeal". According to the ruling, the victim suffered "slaps, kicks, bites and hair grabs" throughout the night, until "she was able to leave the home as she could".
As for the other two episodes, in one of them the now convicted man "punched her in the eye" while, in the other, he "violently" pushed a door "against her right foot", after they both argued and the woman went into her room "in order to end the discussion".
In the ruling, the judge stresses that the victim's sole account already constitutes "true evidence of charge" and points out that it was "overwhelming". An account that, in the opinion of the magistrate, was given "without fissures" and in which, in addition to "the humiliation, the vexations, the physical and verbal violence" to which she was subjected, she narrated "how her animals suddenly became ill, eventually dying" one of her dogs and a cat "suddenly", the veterinarian having explained to her "that they could have been poisoned".
It was a neighbor who reported the events
In addition, the reconstruction of the events that the woman remembered were "corroborated by the testimonies of family members and relatives", including that of a neighbor, who was the one who decided to file a complaint with the Civil Guard, after the victim went to her home on one occasion "to be helped" with "bruises and a black eye", fearing that "something worse could happen to her". The victim never filed a complaint and "hid" the "truth of her aggressions" from third parties. The judge also highlights the "heartbreaking" account of the victim's aunt and the "devastating" statement of her cousin, who narrated how she was "deteriorating physically and psychologically" and "was being consumed", going from 70 kilos to 40.
In addition, as a corollary to all of the above, the magistrate points out that "it is enough to see the photographs that were taken of her". "These images speak for themselves, of the brutality exerted by the defendant on the victim's body," says the judge, who adds what was expressed by the instructor of the police report, according to whom "it can only be described as an ordeal during the two days that he approximately had her detained, even controlling her communications and telling her how she had to act if someone asked her about the injuries, even forcing her to put on makeup in order to hide them."
Sentenced to the maximum penalties: "He deserves the maximum forcefulness"
The defendant acknowledged part of the facts during the trial, but only those stated by three witnesses in the instruction phase who, according to the magistrate, were precisely those who "do not know or did not see anything that happened", such as a psychologist who attended to the victim, but to whom she "did not say anything". Thus, the magistrate has rejected the thesis maintained by the defense, which was only interested in a sentence of 24 months in prison and 200 days of work for the benefit of the community, and has decided to impose the maximum penalties.
Specifically, Nicolás Leandro Caldas has been convicted of a total of five crimes, one of habitual abuse for which he has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison, and three crimes of abuse and one minor crime of threats, for which he has been sentenced to one year in prison for each of them, totaling six and a half years in prison, which is what the Public Prosecutor's Office requested.
"The maximum penalties or those close to the maximum limit are imposed, because the proven facts do not deserve any other reproach than the maximum forcefulness to mistreatment that has lasted at least two years," the judge points out in the ruling, in which she points out that "it is enough to see the state of extreme thinness and stress and psychological disorder of the victim."
Precautionary measures until the sentence is final
In addition, he is prohibited from approaching the victim within 500 meters and communicating with her for a total of 13 years and the deprivation of the right to possess and carry weapons for the same time.
Likewise, it has been agreed to maintain the precautionary measure of comprehensive protection in favor of the victim that was agreed after the denunciation of the facts, as well as the telematic device imposed by the Criminal Court number 1 of Arrecife until the sentence is final, since the same may be appealed, which must be resolved by the Provincial Court of Las Palmas.
