Isle of Wight domestic abuser convicted of offences against woman and teenager

A man has been convicted of domestic abuse offences on the Isle of Wight.

Robert Church, aged 35, was charged with four counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two counts of burglary following incidents perpetrated against a woman and a teenage girl.

At around 4am on 7 July 2023, the woman – aged in her 30s – was awoken by loud banging on the front door of her address in Ryde. The door was then kicked off its hinges and Church entered the address where he assaulted the woman and threw items from the kitchen all over the floor.

After leaving the address briefly, he returned and assaulted a teenage girl.

In a separate incident, in the early hours of the morning on 1 October 2023, Church attended the address again where he began behaving aggressively towards both victims and punched the teenage girl in the face.

The woman and the teenager were able to barricade themselves in a bedroom before Church burst in and began causing damage throughout the address. Following this, he punched the woman in the face causing a deep cut above her eyebrow.

Church, of Ranelagh Road in Lake, was subsequently arrested and charged with the six offences, which he initially denied and the case went to trial at Newport Crown Court on Monday 22 January.

On the first day of the trial, and upon seeing one of the victims in court, Church changed his pleas to guilty on all charges.

He was remanded in custody to appear at the same court for sentencing on 8 March.

DC Ashlea Butt said: “Church is a nasty and violent abuser of women and girls who has now been brought to justice for this terrible pattern of offending.

“The bravery of the victims in this case for speaking out and facing up to him has resulted in a dangerous man being removed from the streets and remanded into custody.

“We take allegations of domestic abuse very seriously and will do all we can to target perpetrators, and offer support to those affected.”

We want anyone who is suffering domestic abuse to have the courage to contact police and seek support.

We appreciate that not everyone wants to speak to police. However, there are organisations in your area, completely independent of the police that can help you if you need it.

The Paragon team – part of the charity The YOU Trust – provide specialist support to victims of stalking and domestic abuse on the Isle of Wight. You can visit their website here: https://paragonteam.org.uk/

For individuals living in other areas of Hampshire, you can visit our website here to find a list of support services near you that can help: https://www.hampshire.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/daa/domestic-abuse/support-organisations/