R v Valentin Ionut Nagy

Facts

The appellant, a Romanian national aged 41 and a labourer in the construction industry, met the complainant, Lorna Povey, in 2020 and they lived together at her flat. Around two and a half years into the relationship he began drinking heavily and became aggressive; in late 2024 he stopped working and asked her for money to fund his crack cocaine use, blaming her for it, and she estimated giving him £500 in total to stop his threatening and controlling behaviour. On a day in March 2025 he asked her for money, and when she declined he pushed her onto the bed and repeatedly punched her, saying each time "You say no to me". She suffered extensive bruising to her back and bruising to her arms and shoulders, photographed by her mother. The relationship ended in October 2025, and after further threatening visits she moved to her mother's address. He was arrested and interviewed on 30 October 2025 and gave a prepared statement denying the allegation. He pleaded guilty on 19 February 2026 to assault occasioning actual bodily harm contrary to section 47 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861, and on 29 May 2026 was sentenced at the Crown Court at Manchester Minshull Street by His Honour Judge Macadam to 21 months' immediate imprisonment, with a five-year restraining order. He appealed against sentence by leave of the single judge.