A drunken thug has been caged for kicking a pregnant woman in the stomach so hard she lost her unborn baby.
Roger Bygrave, 38, kicked the woman during a row at a pub. The single heavy blow with his foot caused devastation for the woman who was 28-weeks pregnant.
She was taken to Torbay Hospital after the incident at the Market House Inn in Dartmouth but, despite the best efforts of medics who performed an emergency caesarean, the child was stillborn.
Bygrave appeared at Exeter Crown Court on April 13 for causing grievous bodily harm. He did not intend to cause the woman serious injury but his violence led to the tragic outcome, Devon Live reports.
The court heard an emotional victim statement by the mother who said that her life was a 'shadow' of what it had been but that she wanted 'justice' for her baby.
The defendant, of Townstal Road, Dartmouth, was jailed for two and a half years. The judge said: "Your kick caused the loss of a child.
"The impact upon the mother was of a particularly grave form of harm with terrible consequences. You will have to live with the fact your kick caused the loss of the child."
The incident happened on February 14, 2020. Bygrave had been drinking excessively and already told to leave one bar in the town before entering the Market House Inn. Staff had been warned via a WhatsApp that he was on his way and 'being argumentative'.
The victim of the assault, who has not been named, was in the pub with her mum and sister. She knew Bygrave and they were on friendly terms.
But soon after he arrived in the pub Bygrave, who was bought a drink by somebody else, got into an argument with staff and took his glass of cider outside.
There was a confrontation involving pushing and shoving. CCTV showed the mum coming out of the pub and intervening.
Judge Johnson said: "It is apparent she struck you to the face and very shortly after you raised your foot and kicked out towards her, the sole of your shoe landing a heavy blow to her lower abdomen leaving her in agony."
The kick caused the placenta to detach and the loss of the child.
Mr Adrian Chaplin, prosecuting, said Bygrave knew the woman was heavily pregnant and, while the kick was not pre-planned, she was visibly with child and his 'retaliation' was completely unnecessary. It was not a case of self-defence.
Mr Sean Brunton QC, defending, said Bygrave had 'lashed out' and was sorry. "It was a spontaneous, unplanned, unwanted and regretted incident," he said. Bygrave had been clearly distressed by what he had done and suffered insomnia and anxiety as a result.
In a statement the victim said: "I will never be able to enjoy February 14 in the same way. It is no longer a day to celebrate love. My sense of love and self has been ripped away in the most brutal manner."
She had been a confident person but now could barely face leaving the house and would sometimes physically collapse in fear. The physical injuries have yet to heal but the emotionally toll has been extreme 'knowing I can never repair the damage and hurt in my head'.
"The helplessness I felt that day knowing I could do nothing to help her or save her," she said. She had to wait over a year to bury her child and say goodbye.
"That day I lost a piece of my soul. Knowing there is nothing I can do to bring her back I hope and pray for the day I get a fraction of my life back. That I fear is a long, long way off."
The court was told that since the statement was written the victim has given birth to another child.
Judge Peter Johnson said the distress caused by her losing the child was 'unimaginable' and will endure to leave psychological and physical scars.
He said it was 'grotesque' to suggest the harm caused by the violence was anything other than of the most serious kind. Bygrave, he said, had shown qualified remorse and had considered himself to be in some way the victim.
"None of those would have happened if you had behaved properly. Your aggressive and provocative behaviour in the pub and outside to bar staff simply trying to do their job and members of the public.
"It seems to me you were the root cause of what happened that night outside the Market House Inn.
Bygrave has previous convictions for violence dating back to 2000, but nothing since 2011. Judge Johnson noted the most recent offending was against a female.
The defendant stood trial in Plymouth in September last year and the jury found him not guilty of child destruction. They had not been able to reach verdicts on charges of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and ABH against another woman.
Bygrave was initially due to face a re-trial but in March this year pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of causing GBH and the Crown accepted there would be no need for a second trial.
Judge Johnson said he was entitled to some small credit for his guilty plea.
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