Prosecutors fine ex-partner after three violence complaints

A 54-year-old man has been fined over one of three reported assaults against his former partner, while the other two complaints have been dismissed, Dagbladet reports. The woman’s lawyer says he is shocked that the man was not charged.

The woman, now 50, reported her former cohabiting partner to police three times for violence. All three complaints were initially dismissed by the South-West Police District.

Her legal aid lawyer, Per Sjong Larsen, appealed the decisions, but the state prosecutor upheld them. The woman and her lawyer then appealed to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Before that appeal had been considered, however, the state prosecutor ordered a new investigation. Police again recommended that all three cases be dismissed.

The State Prosecutor’s Office in Vest has now dismissed two of the complaints. Those decisions are final and cannot be appealed. It has nevertheless decided to issue the 54-year-old with a penalty notice for one of the three reported incidents.

“I am shocked. In my view, the evidence in this case is more than strong enough to bring charges,” Larsen said.

The prosecutor’s office described the evidence as concrete and complex, saying that the assessments were difficult because the woman and the suspect had consistently given conflicting accounts. It concluded that the evidence was insufficient in two cases, but that the man should receive a penalty notice for one incident.

Larsen criticised the police and prosecutors for not giving enough weight to the man’s previous history of violence. He said the man had previously been punished several times for violence and that three women had testified in a court hearing in Stavanger a few years ago about violence and threats they had allegedly suffered from him.

“We also asked police to investigate whether there were other violence cases in other police districts. There is no sign that such an investigation was carried out,” Larsen said.

He said the evidence was strong enough for the man to have been charged with abusing his partner, and described the dismissals as “deeply degrading” for his client.

Dagbladet was unable to reach the 54-year-old man for comment.

The woman told Dagbladet that she had handed evidence to police, including photographs of damage in her apartment and text messages in which she said he admitted putting his hands around her throat.

“Nevertheless, he is not being charged. It is incomprehensible to me,” she said.