A Perth woman who was the victim of a horrific assault at the hands of her partner has confronted him in court and detailed how his offending has left her unable to leave the house, in pain and in constant fear that he will return after he cut off an ankle monitor and fled from police.
Guy Leslie Cramp, 33, was arrested and charged late last year over the vile attack on the mother of his newborn son at her Stratton property.
His victim, Chloe Wright, released CCTV footage of the assault that left her with a broken nose and a fractured cheekbone in a bid to raise awareness of how domestic violence perpetrators are treated by the courts, after Cramp was released on bail despite pleading guilty to the assault.
Cramp then became the subject of a statewide manhunt after he cut off his ankle monitoring device on June 26, landing him back in jail after he was re-arrested 12 hours later.
On Thursday he was due to be sentenced in Midland Magistrates Court but a backlog of cases meant only the prosecution and defence got to put forward their arguments, while Wright was afforded the opportunity to read aloud her victim impact statement.
She spoke about how her “life, home, sense of safety, and children’s stability had been profoundly damaged” by Cramp’s actions in November last year in Wright’s Stratton property and how she struggles to forget what happened.
“[I constantly see] my baby’s head coming within centimetres of the pool fence while he was being held in one hand, as Guy used his other hand to grab my hair and slam my head into the fence,” she said.
“My baby boy was covered in my blood. That is an image I cannot forget.”
Wright continued to speak about how she has felt let down by the justice system since she reported the assault after Cramp was released on bail by a Midland magistrate despite pleading guilty, causing her to flee the country with her children.
She later sold her Stratton home and relocated hours away from friends and family, fearing he would find her and retaliate.
“I feel totally let down by a system that to date has seen me punished for being the victim of an assault carried out by someone I trusted and feel the whole experience has been unjust,” she said.
“I have had to change my whole life and that of my children’s, because I reported this assault to the police.”
As she read her victim impact statement, Cramp could be seen on the video link appearing to cry.
During Thursday’s hearing the police prosecutor had no knowledge of Wright’s injuries and did not explain the gravity of Cramp’s offending to the magistrate.
Instead his lawyer argued that he should not be placed onto a serial domestic violence register because “he made gains” in the community, despite the court hearing that he attended nine of the 24 sessions of a program designed to rehabilitate domestic violence perpetrators.
He was eventually kicked off the course for low attendance.
The court was also told that Cramp had a counselling session booked on June 19 that he did not attend and despite initially engaging with a drug and alcohol service, never once attended any sessions.
“His needs are considered to remain unaddressed,” a Department of Justice representative told the court. “When looked at, his history would suggest he is not considered suitable for a community intervention order.”
Cramp, who has prior convictions for assaults on two other women, has once previously been convicted of cutting off his ankle monitoring device and has spent time in jail after being sentenced on other assaults – including the violent bashing of a taxi driver last year over a $20 fare.
Prosecutors urged for an immediate term of imprisonment.
His fate will be decided on Tuesday afternoon.
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