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PC Huw Orphan, 31, from Vale of Glamorgan, has been found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm to his wife, Amy Burley, also an officer, who suffered a broken back after being kicked down the stairs in their home in the early hours of 8 April 2020. Following his trial at Cardiff Crown Court, Orphan was convicted of the charge of grievous bodily harm but cleared of the more serious charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent. However, he was found guilty of causing actual bodily harm in a separate incident that occurred before the couple moved to Barry, where the attack took place.
The couple met while working for Gwent Police in 2017 and married two years later. The court heard that they often fought and had been arguing by text on the evening leading up to the assault. Orphan denied attacking her, telling the jury that he had accidentally caught her after an argument. He stated that he had not intended to cause harm or to make contact with his partner, but was instead trying to jump up the stairs to put distance between them when his leg accidentally made contact. However, the prosecution asserted that Orphan had lost his temper and deliberately kicked his partner, causing her to “fly backwards” down the stairs and break her back, with Orphan threatening his wife that she would not get to see her children if she told doctors how the injury happened.
In evidence, Orphan told the jury that his relationship with Ms Burley began in April or May 2018 and they moved into a house in Newport the following summer. The court heard that the couple’s relationship was initially positive, but by the time they moved to Barry in February 2020, it was “in tatters”. The assault occurred when Orphan got home from a late shift, and during the evening, the couple exchanged a series of texts about food and other matters. Orphan claimed that his wife threw a child seat at him and, as he climbed the stairs, she grabbed his leg causing him to stumble. He claimed his leg made contact with her waist as he tried to take evasive action to “haul myself to safety”. The defendant accepted that in doing this his leg made contact with his partner’s waist, causing her to fall down the stairs, but denied his action was deliberate.
Orphan was also quizzed about an assault before the couple moved to Barry in which he assaulted Ms Burley by grabbing her and taking her to the floor after a row about sterilising baby bottles. Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke told Orphan that she would request a pre-sentence report to provide her with information on his background. Orphan will be sentenced on 25 October
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