A violent thug who kicked, strangled and spat at his partner regularly told her he would rape her male friends and do terrible things to animals if she left him.
Rikki Leigh Antonio Pavlou, aged 29, of High Street, Falmouth, appeared at Truro Crown Court today (Tuesday) for sentencing after pleading guilty to two charges of assault of a person thereby occasioning them actual bodily harm, engaging in controlling / coercive behaviour in an intimate / family relationship, intentional strangulation and stalking.
Ramsay Quaife, prosecuting, told Judge Mr Recorder Christopher Quinlan that the relationship started during the first lockdown when they lived nearby.
He said the relationship quickly turned violent and abusive.
“He would punch her, kick her and spit at her,” he said. “But the main thing he did was grab her by the throat. She lost count of how many times he did this to her.
“Violence became a regular occurrence in that relationship and she accepted beatings from him.
“She was too scared to go to the police or ask for help.”
He said another part of the abuse was that he put Valium in her drinks without her knowledge. She only knew what he’d done when she saw the residue in her cup until she became reliant on it.
She tried to split from him on a number of occasions but he told her if she did he would kill himself, rape her male friends or do terrible things to animals.
He did apologise to her saying he was a damaged soul and couldn’t help himself.
Mr Quaife said he controlled and coerced her throughout the relationship which she was too scared to leave.
In December 2021 he grabbed her by the throat and punched her to the floor and repeatedly kicked her.
She arranged for medical care after he damaged her collar bone but she did not attend an appointment.
On October 29, 2022 they were arguing at their flat in the High Street and he became angry and grabbed her mobile phone, damaging it, and then mocked her.
“He grabbed her by the neck and pinned her against the kitchen door,” said Mr Quaife. “She said she screamed because in the past it had made him stop but not this time.
“She grabbed his shirt breaking a chain around his neck and she ran to the bathroom and locked herself inside. The defendant repeatedly kicked at the door.
“She was cowering behind the bathroom door. He kicked it in and it hit her in the head. She pleaded with him to stop and he apologised for hurting her and left.”
He then returned and kept pressing on the door buzzer of her home, said Mr Quaife. The victim was picked up by her family.
When he was arrested on February 8 last year, Pavlou remained silent during the police interview and was released with bail orders not to contact the woman.
However, within hours of being released he was back at her address telling her if she supported the police prosecution it would be a mistake. He called her and messaged her constantly.
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He said she thought that if she didn’t engage with the police then the charges would be dropped and he would leave her alone and she tried to stop the police prosecution.
When he was interviewed on April 24 he admitted breaching conditions of the bail.
In a victim impact statement his former partner said she didn’t have any kind of life she was so scared of him, struggled with her mental health and used alcohol to cope.
Dieter Kehler, defending, said Pavlou suffered PTSD after witnessing terrible things when he was 15 and had struggled with drug abuse.
“He also shows acceptance that what he had done was wrong,” he said.
Sentencing Pavlou to four years and four months in prison, Recorder Christopher Quinlan KC said: "You terrorised your partner and violence was a regular occurrence - both physical and mental.
“Putting your hands around her throat, punching her and kicking her. Grabbing her throat was your main thing and she lost count of the number of times you did it.
"Strangulation is a particular form of violence which causes great fear in the victim. She was trapped with and by you and felt unable to escape.”
He said part of Pavlou’s control was to put Valium in her drink so she became dependant on him.
“Conduct like yours attacks the soul of a victim, mentally imprisons them and robs them of their autonomy," said Mr Quinlan.
A restraining order hearing will be heard by the court later this week.
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