Police officer guilty of kicking wife down stairs

Huw Orphan, 31, was convicted of grievous bodily harm

A police officer has been found guilty of breaking his wife’s back by kicking her down stairs in their home.

PC Huw Orphan, 31, from Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, was convicted of grievous bodily harm following his trial at Cardiff Crown Court.

Amy Burley, also an officer, suffered a broken back in the attack in the early hours of 8 April 2020.

She told the court she was left with ongoing pain and struggled to play with her children.

Orphan denied attacking her, telling the jury he had accidentally caught her following an argument.

He was cleared of a more serious charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

But he was found guilty of causing actual bodily harm in a separate incident before the couple moved to Barry.

The couple met in 2017 while working for Gwent Police and married two years later.

They fought often, the court heard, and had been arguing by text on the evening leading up to the assault.

Orphan claimed he had not meant to make contact with his partner or cause her harm.

He said he was instead, the court heard, trying to jump up the stairs to put distance between them when his leg accidentally made contact.

The prosecution put it to Orphan he was making up the story about accidentally catching his wife with his leg.

The prosecution asserted he lost his temper and deliberately kicked his partner causing her to "fly backwards" down the stairs and break her back.

Orphan denied that, saying his wife lost her temper, not him.

The prosecution said he threatened his wife that she would not get to see her children if she told doctors how the injury happened.

He denied this.

His case was heard at Cardiff Crown Court

In evidence Orphan told the jury his relationship with Ms Burley began in April or May 2018 and they moved into a house in Newport the following summer.

The jury was told the couple's relationship was initially positive.

By the time the couple moved to Barry in February 2020, Orphan said the relationship was "in tatters".

The court heard the assault happened when Orphan got home from a late shift.

During the evening, the couple exchanged a series of texts about food and other matters.

In evidence, Orphan accepted he "probably" should have done more to "take the heat out of the argument".

As the couple argued the attack occurred.

Orphan claimed 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 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.

The prosecution's case was this was deliberate.

Orphan was also quizzed about an assault before the couple moved to Barry.

In that Orphan assaulted Ms Burley by grabbing her and taking her to the floor after a row about sterilising baby bottles.

He claimed he did this to "neutralise the risk to me, to her, and to the children".

Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke told Orphan, she told him a pre-sentence report would be requested to provide her with information on his background.

Orphan will be sentenced on 25 October.