A man has avoided an immediate prison sentence for a drunken assault against a woman following a judge’s concerns about him being deported to Ukraine.
Hennadii Myhulia, 53, pulled the woman to the floor by her hair after they and a larger group had been drinking all day at a barbecue in Blackburn.
The victim, also a Ukrainian national, suffered a broken collar bone but told the court through a statement read by prosecutor Lawrence Rainford that she has suffered from emotional and psychological issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder, since the incident.
She said there were complications with an operation to insert pins into her collarbone, which had led to her being signed off long-term sick from work, and had led to mental health difficulties, including depression and anxiety.
Judge Andrew Jeffries, at Preston Crown Court, said Myhulia, of Trinity Close, arrived in the UK a short time after the rest of his family, following the outbreak of the war with Russia.
He said as the law stands, an immediate term of imprisonment would render Myhulia liable to deportation, but said he was unsure if that deportation would actually happen given the current events in Ukraine.
“Knowing what has been going on in Ukraine, and here until this incident, that’s a position I’m not willing to gamble on,” the judge said.
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Myhulia, his wife, and a group of people attended a barbecue at a house in Rawsthorne Street, Blackburn, on June 23, 2023.
Mr Rainford said alcohol was consumed throughout the day and that Myhulia switched to vodka when the group ran out of beer.
At around 9pm the victim was ready to leave, and she left with Myhulia and his wife, and 10 minutes into the walk, Myhulia began to pinch the victim on the bottom, and when she tried to move away, he responded by grabbing her wrists.
She fled with the defendant’s wife, but was found in a small alleyway, where he approached her from behind, grabbed her hair, and pulled her to the floor.
The victim said in her statement she was unsure if she lost consciousness or not.
Myhulia said, “I’ll kill that b***h now” as he continued to try to move towards her.
The victim was unable to call the police or an ambulance due to the language barrier, but attended Royal Blackburn Hospital, where an x-ray revealed the broken collarbone.
The victim added that the incident had caused her “profound physical, mental, and emotional pain” and that she “lives in a constant state of high anxiety and fear".
Beth Pilling, mitigating for Myhulia, said it was an “unpleasant” incident, mitigated by the fact that the defendant had recently lost his job, though she admitted on the night he allowed the drink to “overcome him”.
Judge Jeffries said it was “unnecessary, unprovoked, drunken violence against a woman” but noted the “ridiculously long delay” of three years for the case to reach this point.
He suspended Myhulia’s 16-month sentence for 18 months and ordered him to complete 10 rehabilitation days and 150 hours of unpaid work.
A five-year restraining order was also imposed.
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