Newport rugby player slapped his wife so many times 'he lost count'

Hendry Vaka, 27, of High Street, Newport, admitted one charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm between December 13 and 17, 2015, when he appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court.

The court was told that the victim had suffered a number of injuries from two incidents, including a fractured left cheekbone and a black eye.

Benjamin Lawrence, prosecuting, told the court that the incidents had taken place on December 14 and 16 in 2015. In the first Vaka had pushed his wife following an argument and her head had struck a door.

Mr Lawrence told the court the second involved Vaka repeatedly slapping her to the face. Debra White, in mitigation, told the court the Vaka accepted full responsibility for the incident.

She said the couple wish to continue together and to put the incident behind them.

Mrs White said that Vaka had been living in the UK since 2010 and had worked throughout his time in the country.

She raised concerns that the severity of the sentence could impact on Vaka’s visa application. Sentencing, Judge Peter Barrie, told Vaka that the injuries he had inflicted were serious. He said: “Those were assaults which resulted in significant injury, a fracture of the cheekbone, and other injuries, mainly but not wholly to the face, and they came in the context of domestic arguments between the two of you.“I accept the Mrs Vaka had been drinking and you were concerned about it but I do not think that provided any excuse for assaulting her in this way.”

Judge Barrie also said that there were positives towards Vaka’s visa application, such as his time spent in the country, his commitment to his family, his work, and as a professional rugby player, but that it would not be right to consider the effect of a sentence on the application. He said: “As a matter of principle I do not think it is right to allow those things to influence the form of sentence you receive.”

Vaka was given a 10 month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months. As part of the sentence Vaka must complete a rehabilitation activity of 20 days. Judge Barrie said the activity would main focus on “issues directed towards domestic violence”.

Judge Barrie also ordered him to complete a building better relationships programme, “to address the way you have lost your temper and resorted to violence” and instructed him to pay costs of £250.