Wife attacked me claim

[Nwicker60]

Accused tells of 'explosive' mood swings

ALLEGED wife abuser Konstanty Bembnista claimed in court today that she was the guilty one.
He told a jury that the only time he lifted his hand, was to defend himself against her periodic attacks.
Bembnista, 68, denies charges of assaulting his wife Marie Islam when they lived in their cottage home in the Caithness village of Lybster between 1991 and 2003.
Mrs Islam, since remarried, told the court at Wick, earlier in the trial how she was regularly assaulted and kicked and punched by Bembnista. She said he was "volatile and brutal", had a short fuse and would punch and kick her, spit in her face and throw the first thing that came to hand at her. Sometimes, he only stopped assaulting her when he became exhausted.
The 47-year-old added that, eventually, she couldn't stand being 'terrorised' by him any longer and left him.
However, giving evidence on the sixth day of the trial, yesterday, Bembnista, now said to be living in England, dismissed her allegations as being untrue and accused her of having been the attacker.
He denied keeping her a prisoner in their home and said she was free to go out and about in the village and into Wick.
Bembnista told defence solicitor Fiona MacDonald: " I have never in our entire marriage lifted a finger against my ex-wife" and reiterated: "I have never shown my wife any form of violence."
Bembnista said he thought they had a good marriage considering the 10- year difference in their ages and added that he loved his wife and she told him that she loved him and he never thought for a moment that she was unhappy.
But the accused went on to described Mrs Islam's periodic mood swings and said her loss of temper would 'explode' without warning and continued: "They were sudden and ferocious episodes, inside our house and sometimes when we were out in the car."
Bembnista who entered a special defence of self defence, said he had no idea what brought the outbursts on and continued: "Marie would be totally uncontrolable. I thought that perhaps that, in time, the moods would go away but they never did."
The accused also denies having pushed his wife out of their car and said it was the other way round and he feared it could have had serious consequences. They would be driving along and she would take "one of her moods" and Bembnista went on: "Marie would grab the steering wheel and the car would go all over the road. She would want out and I would stop the car and let her go. She would kick the side of the car in her anger and scream at me to leave."
Bemnista said he would drive a short distance and then return to pick his wife up. He told the jury: "By this time she had calmed down."
He was asked by Miss MacDonald about a specific incident in which a Lybster resident had spoken of the accused's car stopping, suddenly outside her house, and seeing Bembnista throwing a punch at his wife and pushing her out of the car.
Bembnista disputed that version and said that Mrs Islam had one of "her furious moods" and he stopped the car. At that point his wife lashed out at him. He added: "Marie stumbled on the grass verge and ended up on her hands and knees."
The accused said that Marie got friendly with Fakrul Islam, a chef at a local Wick restaurant when he cooked for them at the cottage and that they were subsequently often speaking to each other on the phone.
Bembnista told his solicitor that he had no idea when his wife left him, doing "a moonlight flit" with access to their bank accounts and denied any knowledge of her having left a note explaining the situation.
He said he only discovered she was staying in Edinburgh with Mr Islam, when he received a letter from his bank.
Bemnista also pleaded not guilty to threatening her in the capital and stalking her.
The accused who has limited hearing due to a tank explosion while serving in the army, has been assisted by special facilities involving speech, typed onto a computer in front of him to allow him to follow the evidence.
He has also been permitted to have his Jack Russell dog, Rambo, with him.
The trial continues today Thursday.