Court evicted 88-year-old man who attacked his wife in Esposenda from home

The Court of Appeal of Guimarães upheld the conviction of an 88-year-old man for leaving the house he shared with his wife for over 60 years in Esposenda as part of a domestic violence case.

In a judgment dated February 6, this Wednesday, consulted by Lusa, this court states that the defendant’s age “cannot serve to reward him to the detriment of a victim of ill-treatment who needs to be protected.”

“Age has also not stopped him from continuing to subject women to humiliating behavior that offends their physical and psychological integrity and which he has not yet internalized as being against the law,” he adds.

The Court acknowledges that the obligation to leave the house may be embarrassing for the defendant, even considering his age, but considers that it is “necessary, proportionate and adequate to the rule of rights of the victim, who is especially vulnerable due to his physical condition”. and the state of health (of the cancer patient).

The defendant argued that leaving the house he had been building all his life could be a traumatic event for his life and a problem for society, and that the appellate court’s understanding in deciding whether to impose additional punishment on him was inhuman and inexpressible.

However, the court objected that “the behavior of the defendant throughout his life in relation to a woman, showing complete disrespect for her, insulting her honor and dignity, degrading her as a person, was inhuman and unacceptable.”

He also emphasizes that the defendant devalues ​​his behavior, to the point of mentioning that he does it “as a joke” and “only at home, not on the street.”

“It is of the utmost importance that the victim be able to live his daily life in a normal manner and with the peace of mind that he needs, given the disease he suffers from, without fear of verbal, psychological and physical attacks,” the verdict also says.

According to the court, from the very beginning of the marriage, the defendant showed aggressive behavior towards the woman, insulting her physically and verbally “for no reason”, spat on her and did not let her out of the house when she wanted to.

On Christmas Eve 2016, the defendant allegedly hit a woman on the neck with an open hand, causing her to fall to the ground.

Since the beginning of 2019, the defendant increased his drinking at lunchtime, so that after that dinner he insulted his wife every day.

In the Esposende Court, he was sentenced to two years and nine months’ imprisonment, suspended for the same period.

As an additional punishment, the court forbade him to contact the victim and forced him to leave the place of residence of the spouses for a period of two years and nine months under supervision by remote control.

The defendant basically appealed against the obligation to move out of the place of residence, alleging that he is the sole guardian of a 76-year-old woman who suffers from cancer and obesity and still has a “limping gait”.

For the court, even assuming that the defendant provided the woman with some help, “any person in her place would prefer the daily help of a third person (relative or not) than to continue to subject himself to repeated humiliation by her husband” .

In court, the victim refused to testify.

The accused will also have to pay the victim 2,000 euros and will be banned from using and carrying weapons for five years.

Weapons and ammunition seized from the couple’s home were confiscated in favor of the state.