Corby man shouted ‘I’ll kill you with my own hand’ at partner he’d threatened with knife and slammed up against wall

A man threatened to kill his girlfriend in front of police officers after he’d violently assaulted her.

Trained nurse Ioan Stan, now a warehouse worker, had already threatened the woman with a chef’s knife and had thrown her into a wall with such force that she feared she’d be pushed clean through it.

Northampton Crown Court heard that the pair were in their room in a large HMO in Landseer Court, Corby, in November last year. The defendant had been drinking alcohol when he began shouting and swearing at the victim.

She asked him to leave and he went into the kitchen and picked up a knife. He began walking towards her pointing it at her at head height.

The court was told he was ‘making full eye contact’ and she was ‘terrified’ that he was going to kill her.

She managed to pick up a towel and grabbed the knife with it before hiding it. The victim managed to phone the police but could only say ‘help’ before she hung up.

Stan then pushed her up against a wall ‘with such force she thought she was going to go through the wall’.

She managed to push him off her and he punched the TV, destroying it beyond repair.

Police then arrived and Stan was heard to say, in Romanian, ‘I will kill you with my own hand’.

Speaking in court through an interpreter, Stan, 34, pleaded guilty to one count of affray.

Recorder Samuel Skinner questioned why a charge of making threats to kill the victim made in front of police officers had been dropped.

“He said he’d kill her with his own hand in front of police and he’s been let off,” he said.

Legal counsel said that the threat had been encompassed in the affray charge.

Mitigating for Stan, Morgan Perone said that his client still denies picking up the knife, adding: “He offers no excuse or justification for his behaviour.

"Plainly, alcohol played a part.”

He said that Stan’s former girlfriend now wished to reconcile with him and the prosecution sought no restraining order.

"He recognises that may not be the best idea,” said Mr Perone.

"He’s spent four months in custody and it wasn’t a pleasant experience. That time has forced him into sobriety.”

The court heard that Stan had two previous UK convictions for drink driving.

Recorder Skinner said: “You went to the kitchen and located a chef’s knife.

"You walked towards her while she was in the living room, holding the knife, looking her fully in the face accusing her of cheating on you.

"She was terrified you were going to kill her. Rather bravely, she used a towel to wrestle the knife from you then hid it.

"What had taken place until the police arrived was disgraceful enough but to compound it by threatening to kill your partner in the presence of police officers is an aggravating feature of this offence.”

Stan was given a 12 month prison sentence, suspended for two years. He will also have an alcohol abstinence monitor for three months and will have to complete 20 rehabilitation requirement days. He will also have to pay his victim £300 in compensation.