Latest news with #VOPO
Sunday World
18-06-2025
- Sunday World
Serial woman beater left ex with a bleed on her brain
Bully dragged his girlfriend into the bathroom and beat her repeatedly Simon Wells became one of the first offenders to be charged under new laws around non-fatal strangulation A serial woman-beating thug who left an ex with a bleed on her brain could be going back to jail for breaching his Violent Offences Prevention Order. Pictured here for the first time Antrim bully boy Simon Wells will find out on Tuesday if he is going back to prison after he admitted the breach the terms of his VOPO of which he has been subject to for six years and has four more to run. Wells was previously jailed after he dragged his then girlfriend into a bathroom where he proceeded to punch her repeatedly in the head. And in a separate subsequent attack Wells became one of the first offenders to be charged under new laws around non-fatal strangulation – however the charge was left on the books when he pleaded guilty to assault. Court News NI reported Wells, who has a string of domestic abuse convictions against him, appeared this week convicted of having an 'unapproved' overnight stay in Antrim on April 27. Serial woman-beating thug Simon Wells Sentencing will take place next month at Antrim Magistrates' Court when the 30-year-old now with an address of Inverary Avenue, Belfast, will discover if he's going back to prison following a pre-sentence report. In Northern Ireland, a Violent Offences Prevention Order (VOPO) is a civil order made by a court to protect the public from an offender who poses a risk of serious violent harm. It's not part of a sentence and is a risk management tool, not automatically applied to all violent offenders – only those repeat offenders who have been before the courts several times. Wells has shocking history of attacking women. In 2019 he was jailed for three years after he attacked his ex, committing grievous bodily harm in a prolonged assault that left his victim with a broken nose, broken teeth and a bleed on the brain. On that occasion Wells told cops afterwards, 'If a woman is big enough to hit, she is big enough to be hit back'. Wells barrister told Antrim Crown Court 'in the cold clear light of day' his 24-year-old client was 'disgusted with his behaviour'. Crown barrister Michael Chambers told the court six years ago Wells and his partner went to the flat of another man in Antrim, and that all three consumed drink and drugs. Mr Chambers said that after an otherwise pleasant evening, Wells couldn't find his phone and that an argument broke out between him and his girlfriend. When she located his phone and gave it gave it back to him, the row escalated. Mr Chambers said that while Wells accused his partner of having his phone, he then smashed her two phones. She became angry at this, she shouted at him then the couple started pushing and shoving each other. The prosecutor said at this point the 'physically much stronger' Wells grabbed his girlfriend and dragged her to the bathroom where he got her on the floor. The thug then punched her repeatedly and banged her head off the floor. Mr Chambers said the occupant of the flat was aware of what was happening, and when he opened the bathroom door, he saw Wells 'straddling her and punching her about the face... he thought she was going to be killed'. Simon Wells became one of the first offenders to be charged under new laws around non-fatal strangulation News in 90 Seconds - June 18th He intervened, the police were called to the flat, and when they arrived the saw a woman in a physically distressed state with a bruised and bloodied face. She was taken to hospital and treated for a broken nose and extensive bruising to her face. She also sustained a bleed to the brain and broken teeth in the assault. When Wells, who's originally from Antrim, was arrested, he told police 'if a woman is big enough to hit, she is big enough to be hit back'. At the time, he was also in breach of a suspended sentence. He later admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm, and causing criminal damage to her phones. Defence barrister Neil Moore said it was accepted by Wells that domestic violence was 'abhorrent', that he was 'disgusted' by his own behaviour and that 'he has had the opportunity to think very long and very hard about how he reacted that evening'. Pointing out that in the year Wells has spent in custody he has 'embraced all the help forthcoming to him', Mr Moore revealed this has included attending a victim awareness course. Simon Wells The defence barrister told Judge Kevin Finnegan QC that while an ongoing issue with Wells is drugs and alcohol misuse, he has passed all drugs tests in prison. Judge Finnegan handed Wells a three-year sentence which was divided into a year in custody and two years on licence – meaning he will be released this week. As part of his licence, Wells will have to participate in courses recommended by his Designated Risk Manager. Wells was also made the subject of a five-year Violent Offences Prevention Order, and the conditions of this include him being forbidden into entering a relationship without disclosing his previous offending, and not communicating directly or indirectly with his ex-girlfriend. But despite his claims that he was getting help to stop him from attacking women Wells was back in court in July 2023 for similar offences. He was charged at Ballymena Magistrates Court with strangling a female with intent to affect her ability to breathe or the flow of blood to her brain. He was also charged of assaulting and threatening to kill her and damaging fixtures and fittings in her home. Wells pleaded guilty to the criminal damage charge and the assault offence with the other charges 'left on the book'. He was jailed for 22 months with half of that to be in custody and the other half on licence.
Sunday World
01-06-2025
- Sunday World
‘Dangerous' rapist caught in middle of sex attack gets seven year sentence
BACK IN JAIL | Judge Devlin revealed that when Ayres raped the woman, he had only been freed from prison the previous week Maurice Ayres Maurice Ayres appeared before Antrim Crown Court where he was given an extended custodial term. Judge Alistair Devlin described the 30-year-old as a dangerous offender given the facts of the case, previous record and the risk that he poses. As well as imposing the seven-year term as part of an extended custodial sentence, the judge ordered that Ayres be subject to an extra three years on supervised licence conditions when he is eventually freed. Maurice Ayres The sentence means that rather than being released automatically at the halfway point of his sentence, it will be up to the Parole Commissioners if, and under what conditions, Ayres is freed from custody. At an earlier hearing, the defendant, of no fixed abode in Belfast, entered guilty pleas to charges of rape and causing the victim actual bodily harm on March 17 last year. He also admitted three other charges relating to two breaches of a Violent Offences Prevention Order (VOPO) committed between March 12-18 and failing to tell police he had been freed from prison. Judge Devlin outlined how it had been just after 8pm on St Patrick's Day last year when a man contacted 999 to report his concerns that a woman was being raped in the communal area of a block of flats. Reading from an agreed set of facts prepared by prosecuting counsel Suzanne Gallagher, the judge told the court that when police arrived they found Ayres behind the naked and 'almost incoherent' victim, having sexual intercourse. When they stopped Ayres in the act, officers noticed that the victim's face was swollen and that her lip was bleeding. The victim was 'lapsing in and out of consciousness' so was taken to hospital. Despite her repeated assurances and promises that she would make a statement, no such statement was ever forthcoming. Maurice Ayres News in 90 Seconds - June 1st The court heard that the man who called 999 gave police an audio recording he had made, from which, said the judge, the victim appeared 'to be in distress' and sounds of slapping could be heard. The caller told police that, looking out through the peephole in his door, he could see that Ayres 'had the hold of her by the hair. He was slapping and punching her and he had to pick her up as she kept falling on the floor.' An examination of the communal hallway uncovered 'clumps of hair' which, when forensically examined, were found to have come from the victim and had been pulled out by the roots, indicating that they had been 'forcefully pulled from her head'. Arrested and interviewed, Ayres claimed the woman had been assaulted in a fight with another woman earlier that evening and that, when he hugged her to comfort her, 'they started to kiss, one thing led to another' and they ended up having consensual sex. Claiming that he believed the victim was 'fit to consent', Ayres further claimed that 'if she had indicated she didn't want to do it, he wouldn't have crossed that line'. Judge Devlin revealed that when Ayres raped the woman, he had only been freed from prison the previous week, having served a sentence for serious assault. In that case, Ayres had been made the subject of a Violent Offences Prevention Order, and so, by raping and assaulting his victim, he breached three different terms of that order. That was just one of a litany of aggravating features, said the judge, adding that others included the vulnerability of the 'grossly intoxicated victim' and the fact she was subject to violence and degradation over and above the rape itself in that she had been 'dragged about the floor, almost certainly by the hair'. 'Far and away the significant mitigating factor' was Ayres' guilty pleas, said Judge Devlin, adding that, in his assessment, the defendant's culpability and risk were high, while the harm he caused, in circumstances where there was no victim impact statement, 'is between moderate to high'. Given that high risk, coupled with Ayres' previous offences of serious violence and multiple breaches of the VOPO, the judge said he was satisfied the defendant 'poses a significant risk of causing serious harm'. Having classed Ayres as a dangerous offender, the judge said it was for that reason he was imposing the seven-year, extended custodial sentence. In addition, the judge ordered Ayres to sign the police sex offenders register for the rest of his life. Once he is released, Ayres will be subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order for a further five years.
