A 40-year-old man was sentenced to 14 months in prison, with a 3-year suspension, for a domestic incident at the expense of his 28-year-old partner, who, in order to escape, hung herself from the balcony of the house, trying to reach the opposite balcony.

The Autonomous Three-member Misdemeanor Court of Thessaloniki found him guilty of domestic bodily harm and insult, while the young woman was tried for the same case, after a similar lawsuit filed against her by the 40-year-old, with the court declaring her innocent.

The incident happened at the end of last month in western Thessaloniki. As the 28-year-old testified, the episode started because the 40-year-old was jealous of her, while similar episodes seem to have happened in the past.

What the woman testified in court – “That’s not how things happened,” the 40-year-old claimed

“He cursed me vulgarly […] he was hitting me with cuffs, he grabbed my hands and I was trying to leave, I was shaking […] I lost my balance from the blows and then a glass that was on the coffee table broke and fell to the floor. He got even more angry, threw me on the glasses […] He took a broom and used it to keep me from leaving. He hit me on the head and I fell on the glasses,” said the young woman.

In order to escape, as she testified, she went out the balcony door calling for help. “I hung from the balcony to reach the opposite balcony. But I couldn’t,” she noted, emphasizing that while she was hanging from the balcony he was “taking” video of her with his cell phone. Finally, the complainant gave up trying to climb the other balcony, returned home, took her cell phone with which she called Immediate Action and left the house. “I was terrified, my pants were bloody from the fall. When the police came they found me with blood on my hands,” added the 28-year-old.

The 40-year-old described his own version of the episode to the judges, stressing that the woman’s injuries were caused by her own fault. “We argued and she started breaking things, she had a seizure. He had had enough to drink. Her behavior is on video. I went to stop her and got punched in the face. I pushed her on the sofa to push her away and then she went out to the balcony and went through another door to escape. I didn’t chase her, I begged her to come inside so she wouldn’t get hurt. I was afraid for her physical integrity and I took a video to have some kind of evidence if she falls so that I won’t be accused”, said – among other things – the 40-year-old, but without convincing the judges, who found him guilty according to the indictment.