Newport man jailed for brutal attack after woman refused sex

A married man who punched a woman up to 25 times after she refused to have sex with him has been jailed for two years.

Oswaldson Small, 36, met his victim in Mojo’s nightclub in Newport on the night of 3rd July this year. The pair took a taxi to the woman’s home where Small “initiated sex” but she said no.

Cardiff Crown Court heard Small began shouting and refused to leave when asked. He then punched the woman, causing her to fall onto the bed, before repeatedly striking her to the face and body with between 20 and 25 blows.

The woman managed to kick out and dial 999, but Small still refused to leave. By the time police arrived, he had gone.

Doctors noted “significant” bruising and swelling to her face, facial cuts, a black eye, and bruises on her body.

Small was identified from nightclub and taxi CCTV and arrested on 19th July. He denied the assault, claiming the woman had subjected him to “racial slurs” and that he had defended himself when she attacked him.

In a victim statement, the woman said the trauma had “amplified” existing traumas, leaving her with a “spider’s web of traumas” in her brain. She was left with concussion and feeling “paranoid, anxious and delusional”.

Small, of Pickle Line Road, Newport, was convicted at a magistrates court trial of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He had also been convicted in absence of battery for punching an arcade supervisor in Newport in June last year during a “confrontation” with friends, and of failing to surrender. He has no previous convictions.

His barrister Paul Hewitt told the court Small was a “family man” from Barbados whose wife works while he stays at home caring for their four-year-old child. Small’s wife was in court for the hearing.

Judge Shomon Khan said Small had repeatedly punched his victim, causing injuries which were severe in the context of an ABH charge. He described photographs of the injuries as “troubling” and said only immediate custody was appropriate.

Small must serve up to half his two-year sentence in custody before being released on licence. The judge said whether Small would be deported was a matter for the Home Office.