It Is Indeed An ‘All Too Familiar Story’…

… all far too familiar for my liking, frankly:

Alexander Stampp punched, bit and threatened to kill his partner Roxanne Spalding during a series of attacks over four months. In one of the vicious beatings, the 26-year-old slammed her face into a sink causing a fork to stab into her neck.

'One' of the vicious beatings, you say? Why yes...

Roz Wardell, prosecuting, said: "The relationship started well but after a couple of months the arguments began, with increasing physical violence."

The first attack took place on April 14 at Miss Spalding's flat in Montacute Road, New Addington, when Stampp strangled her to the point that she passed out and collapsed on the floor.

Then, while at her flat on June 13, Stampp punched Miss Spalding in the face. A neighbour saw what happened but Stampp threatened to burn his flat down.

The violence continued on July 24, when Stampp slammed his partner's face into her kitchen sink with such force that a fork in the basin stabbed her neck. Miss Spalding then went to hospital, where doctors also found heavy bruising on her right arm.

On August 4, Stampp beat Miss Spalding unconscious following an argument over websites he had been viewing. Ms Wardell added: "When she woke up she tried to call for help on her phone but the defendant grabbed it."

Hmmm. He's undoubtedly a vicious brute, but is Spalding a slow learner, or what?

On August 24, Miss Spalding went to Croydon Police station and reported her ordeal.

Hurrah! The penny dropped.

Magistrates heard that Stammp's three-year-old daughter had died from a heart defect six years ago. Her death led him to have a breakdown and the end of the five-year relationship with the child's mother, leaving him with "emotional issues".

So? Surely that's nor a ...

Oh:

But Stampp, of Kynaston Avenue, Thornton Heath, avoided immediate jail – even though the magistrate recognised he had shown no remorse – because he has "emotional issues".

/facepalm

Hamida Ali, of Croydon Labour Women’s Forum, said: "This case is shocking and its outcome is equally shocking. To those involved in responding to violence against women, it’s an all too familiar story. … Sentences like this give women no confidence in taking action."

Yes, it's a familiar story, all right. Just like this one:

Toby Hayden, 27, hit his partner of two years in a drunken rage when a cash machine told him he had insufficient funds to withdraw money.

He repeatedly punched Loretta Butterworth, 22, in an assault that ended only when passers-by heard her screaming ‘please help me’.

A total bolt from the blue?

She added: ‘When I found out that he had walked free my heart sank. I was shocked and angry.

‘He definitely should have gone to prison. He had previous convictions, he had been violent to people before, he was on probation when it happened.’

Ah.

Perhaps Hamida Ali would be better off telling her unfortunate 'service users' that since the justice system isn't going to protect them, they could try not shacking up with violent men and then acting surprised when the inevitable happens?