A jury has begun deliberations in the case of Brendon Matiza, a 29-year-old man from Cowley Road, Oxford, who has pleaded not guilty to five offences of violence allegedly committed against his former partner.
The charges span from December last year through to April this year and include three counts of intentional strangulation and two counts of assault by beating.
Additionally, Matiza faces a single charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice, relating to correspondence he allegedly sent to the complainant urging her to withdraw the criminal proceedings.
The jury at Oxford Crown Court was informed that the woman was 16 weeks pregnant with Matiza’s child at the time of his arrest.
She is now reported to be eight months pregnant.
Proceedings commenced on September 7 when Matt Knight outlined the prosecution’s case.
The court heard that the pair met in November last year and entered into a relationship shortly afterwards.
According to the prosecution, the relationship deteriorated rapidly, with problems beginning in December.
The jury was told that during December, arguments between the couple escalated from verbal disputes to physical violence.
On one occasion, the woman was pushed to the ground and sustained an injury to her wrist.
On another occasion, following Matiza’s lateness for an arranged meeting and a subsequent dispute over money for bus fare, the woman was allegedly strangled for approximately 30 seconds.
The prosecution stated that the woman would occasionally telephone a male friend during arguments for support and reassurance.
During one such telephone conversation, an argument with Matiza developed, and the jury was played audio recordings of the incident in which the woman’s distress was audible.
The court heard that on December 28, the woman was accompanied by a 17-year-old friend when she became involved in a further altercation with Matiza.
She sustained bruising and bleeding as a result.
In the early part of this year, a second alleged strangulation incident occurred.
Following a third allegation of strangulation, the woman reported the matter to the police, leading to Matiza’s arrest.
The prosecution informed the jury that charges were subsequently filed and a trial date arranged.
However, Matiza allegedly wrote to the woman requesting that she withdraw the charges.
The correspondence reportedly stated that his early release from custody depended upon all charges being dismissed.
After hearing closing arguments from counsel and a summary of the evidence from the presiding judge, the jury retired to consider its verdicts on September 14.
The defence maintains that Matiza denies all allegations, contending that the complainant and her associates fabricated evidence against him.
The trial remains ongoing.