Nwicker60
17-Mar-16, 17:53
Nothing much wrong with 'deaf' accused's hearing alleges ex.wife
A MAN, alleged to have abused his wife for several years, was accused of being a benefit fraudster by her today.
The allegation about Konstanty Bembnista's hearing ability, was made by Marie Islam, Konstanty Bembnista is currently on trial on charges of historic assault and stalking, at Wick Sheriff Court where special arrangements have been made on the basis that he was profoundly deaf.
Computer operators are spelling each other keying in the evidence which 68-year-old Bembnista is following on a screen, in the dock, during the two-week trial. A temporary desk has been fitted to the dock and the accused was given special permission to have his Jack Russell, sporting a hearing dog coat, by his side.
The surprise allegation about his hearing loss, said to be 97%, was made when by Mrs Islam, 47, while she was being questioned about her former husband's disablement.
She claimed Bembnista's hearing loss was at best, only slight. He didn't use hearing aids, yet was able to listen to the television and radio, and answer the telephone during their time in Caithness.
Bembnista's solicitor, Miss Fiona MacDonald, asked: "The impression I get is that you don't accept your former husband has a hearing loss!"
Mrs Islam: "Perhaps he did have a slight hearing loss but if he did, it was just that."
She said that the accused's hearing was never an issue during their 12 years together at their idyllic Kyleburn Cottage in Lybster, where they made a new start after marrying and moving north in 1991.
Mrs Islam told the jury that, at the time, ex. bus driver Bembnista applied for disablement benefit, the policy was to try to get people back into employment.
She continued: "He didn't want to be forced into employment and in order to get incapacity benefit he told the authorities he was completely deaf and was dependent on me for his hearing. He didn't depend on me as his ears...he had perfectly good hearing and could hear everybody."
Miss Macdonald put it to Mrs Islam that this was, in effect, fraud. The witness replied that Bembnista didn't want to got through the process of being tested because he believed he would lose his incapacity benefit.
Mrs Islam, who since re-maried, was asked if she had supported her husband's application for disability benefit by giving evidence and replied she didn't recall speaking to anyone and couldn't remember writing to anyone about it. She continued: "I know there was a point where Bembnista was left alone to draw his incapacity benefit and cashed it regularly."
Miss MacDonald insisted: "You are very clearly of the view that your former husband did not have hearing loss?"
Mrs Islam: "He could hear the telephone and the television and me and speaking to me and everyone else, so that makes me believe it is true."
The court previously heard from her about the abuse that Bembnista regularly inflicted on her punching and kicking her and threatening to kill her, throwing things at her and spitting in her face, during most of their 13 years in Caithness. She said he controlled everything she did in their daily life, even choosing the clothes she wanted from a mail order company and she had tried unsuccessfully to get away from him which she eventually did and moved south to work in Edinburgh and remarried.
Mrs Islam strongly denied she was "making the whole thing up" and said that the suggestion by Miss MacDonald made her "very, very angry". She added: "I spent many, many years being abused by Kon . (Konstanty) He humiliated and degraded me."
At that point, Mrs Islam broke down in tears and the court was adjourned for a break. Bembnista, of The Meadows, Thrumster, near Wick, denies a series of assaults of Mrs Islam between June 1991 and 2013. He also pleads not guilty to stalking her in Edinburgh and threatening her and repeatedly phoning her.
The trial, expected to last a further week, will resume on Monday.
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A MAN, alleged to have abused his wife for several years, was accused of being a benefit fraudster by her today.
The allegation about Konstanty Bembnista's hearing ability, was made by Marie Islam, Konstanty Bembnista is currently on trial on charges of historic assault and stalking, at Wick Sheriff Court where special arrangements have been made on the basis that he was profoundly deaf.
Computer operators are spelling each other keying in the evidence which 68-year-old Bembnista is following on a screen, in the dock, during the two-week trial. A temporary desk has been fitted to the dock and the accused was given special permission to have his Jack Russell, sporting a hearing dog coat, by his side.
The surprise allegation about his hearing loss, said to be 97%, was made when by Mrs Islam, 47, while she was being questioned about her former husband's disablement.
She claimed Bembnista's hearing loss was at best, only slight. He didn't use hearing aids, yet was able to listen to the television and radio, and answer the telephone during their time in Caithness.
Bembnista's solicitor, Miss Fiona MacDonald, asked: "The impression I get is that you don't accept your former husband has a hearing loss!"
Mrs Islam: "Perhaps he did have a slight hearing loss but if he did, it was just that."
She said that the accused's hearing was never an issue during their 12 years together at their idyllic Kyleburn Cottage in Lybster, where they made a new start after marrying and moving north in 1991.
Mrs Islam told the jury that, at the time, ex. bus driver Bembnista applied for disablement benefit, the policy was to try to get people back into employment.
She continued: "He didn't want to be forced into employment and in order to get incapacity benefit he told the authorities he was completely deaf and was dependent on me for his hearing. He didn't depend on me as his ears...he had perfectly good hearing and could hear everybody."
Miss Macdonald put it to Mrs Islam that this was, in effect, fraud. The witness replied that Bembnista didn't want to got through the process of being tested because he believed he would lose his incapacity benefit.
Mrs Islam, who since re-maried, was asked if she had supported her husband's application for disability benefit by giving evidence and replied she didn't recall speaking to anyone and couldn't remember writing to anyone about it. She continued: "I know there was a point where Bembnista was left alone to draw his incapacity benefit and cashed it regularly."
Miss MacDonald insisted: "You are very clearly of the view that your former husband did not have hearing loss?"
Mrs Islam: "He could hear the telephone and the television and me and speaking to me and everyone else, so that makes me believe it is true."
The court previously heard from her about the abuse that Bembnista regularly inflicted on her punching and kicking her and threatening to kill her, throwing things at her and spitting in her face, during most of their 13 years in Caithness. She said he controlled everything she did in their daily life, even choosing the clothes she wanted from a mail order company and she had tried unsuccessfully to get away from him which she eventually did and moved south to work in Edinburgh and remarried.
Mrs Islam strongly denied she was "making the whole thing up" and said that the suggestion by Miss MacDonald made her "very, very angry". She added: "I spent many, many years being abused by Kon . (Konstanty) He humiliated and degraded me."
At that point, Mrs Islam broke down in tears and the court was adjourned for a break. Bembnista, of The Meadows, Thrumster, near Wick, denies a series of assaults of Mrs Islam between June 1991 and 2013. He also pleads not guilty to stalking her in Edinburgh and threatening her and repeatedly phoning her.
The trial, expected to last a further week, will resume on Monday.
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