I'm tempted to call him a 'so-called' judge but basically he's a disgrace to the bench

It depends how much bleach he managed to force down her nigglynellie; I knew a toddler once who managed to get hold of a bleach bottle before the days of safety caps and was taken to hospital and was fine (not my child btw!). If you drank some accidentally and it wasn't a large amount, milk is the first thing you should drink I believe.

nigglynellie Apparently she spat out the bleach and didn't swallow it.

Yes of course you're right Jalima, presumably this poor lady was able to take evasive action. Think of the terror she must have been put through? It's the mental torture that inevitably goes hand in hand with physical abuse which is so debilitating reducing the person to almost a gibbering wreck. Just horrible and he should be severely punished.

Spot on Jalima, big difference in being battered in a marriage to being bored in a marriage.

What baffles me is the fact that this judge has a wife and children including a young daughter but appears to have no insight whatsoever.

Unbelievable. The judge should be removed from the bench. The husband should have served a prison sentence for GBH at least. The active ingredient in bleach is a salt-based chemical compound called sodium hypochlorite. Small amounts and especially if diluted - you would end up with an upset stomach. Of course if undiluted and industrial strength then it would start to corrode human tissue. This sentence takes us back in time - a time when it was permissible to punish a spouse. It is quite obvious that the Judge is living in those times.

I am surprised that after domestic abuse in the form of coercive control which ended in physical violence and was a major storyline in The Archers, this type of thinking can still prevail. Even those who do not listen to the Archers were aware of this storyline as it received widespread publicity. You do not have to be thick to be at the receiving end of violence, and the reasons why someone may stay with an abusive partner until they are seriously injured or killed are complex. I agree with Jess Phillips that if this has been reported accurately it sends a terrible message to other women in this situation.

It used to be thought that under "old law" it was once legal to beat your wife so long as it was with a stick "no thicker than a man's thumb" but apparently there has never been even that official freedom. www.historyofwomen.org/wifebeatingthumb.html A cricket bat is definitely out of order!

Are the judiciary of this democratic country somehow going backwards to the 18th century - when it was, I believe, legal for a man to beat his wife with a stick as long as it was "no thicker than his thumb"?

Last week a judge refused a divorce to a woman who had been married for 40+ years and had plainly had enough. He opined that being in a "wretched" (his choice of word) relationship was not grounds for a divorce.

This week a woman forced to drink bleach and was physically abused by her partner is described as "not vulnerable". Ye gods! I suppose this particular judge would class a vulnerable woman as someone who is a carbon copy of the anxious, fretting, paranoid, hand-wringing Mavis Riley of Coronation Street......this judge also cited that the victim could not be vulnerable because she could have walked away. Er....not if your attacker is determined to stalk you again and again and again.

Even if a woman is highly articulate, has loads of her own money and could move out if she wants to, but chooses to stay and insult her husband every day... If that husband then attacks her in the ways​ that this one did, he should be imprisoned as he has committed serious assault.

If he had assaulted a complete stranger he would have gone to jail, so why is it OK for him to assault someone he is supposed to cherish and protect?

I am appalled! Unless there is more to this than was reported in the papers, this judge should not be allowed to sit again.

What more could there be?
You can be sure that aggressive behaviour from the woman, causing the man to act in self defence, would have been well reported and would have resulted in a prison sentence for her.

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/jess-phillips-mustafa-bashirs-sentencing-judge-dangerous-message-victims-domestic-abuse_uk_58da13f5e4b00f68a5ca501f

Assault occasioning actual bodily harm is not an offence, the sentence for which, which can be referred to the Court of Appeal by the Attorney General, the Secret Barrister pointed out on Tuesday.

However, as the defendant’s barrister relied on his client’s budding cricket career as a mitigating factor, telling the court that Bashir had a contract with Leicestershire County Cricket Club - a claim the club later denied - the judge could choose to recall the case and alter the sentence, the junior barrister wrote on his blog.

“Do not be surprised if, when this is brought to his (the judge’s) attention, Mr Bashir finds himself facing a further day in court, with a far less fortuitous outcome.”

He definitely deserves a stiff sentence for that fib about the cricket club.

This and the Daily Mail front page today have caused me to despair. THIS is what everyday sexism is all about.

The judge is a total disgrace to his profession, and shows a misunderstanding of women, or men for that matter

Hear hear maryhoffman37.

It is possible to drink bleach and survive. DH's mother gave him a cup of bleach when he was 8 years old and told him it was lemonade. Without thinking he took a large gulp. He spent a long time in hospital but recovered although all heat nerves seems to be

There should be no difference between the sentence for assaulting your wife or a complete stranger.

Sorry didn't finish the sentence.

....all heat nerves seem to have been destroyed as he can't feel how hot something is in his mouth.

I am appalled that so many commentators (including women) are talking about domestic abuse. This is a complete irrelevance - what we have here is assault, GBH, attempted murder - that it took place in the home has nothing whatever to do with it.

If he had done these things in the street, or to a passing stranger we would be absolutely clear what we were talking about.

I nearly exploded during the World at One today - despair

But actually Lucky that's exactly why he judge spoke as he did - because it was DV. And agree about the perjury - should get him a few months.

I can't understand why the "cricket lie" was considered relevant to the sentence. Or why the woman's brains were part of the commentary at all! Whatever the sentence given, neither of these two factors seem even vaguely relevant to anything! I'm not a "vulnerable woman " either ...so does that make it ok if DH decides to beat me up ...not that he ever would! I'm stunned by the whole thing!
I'm now off to muse on the other world shattering news today ...two powerful women (their not vulnerable either!!) who ...shock, horror ....have got legs!!!

Actually ...what on earth possessed Sarah Vine to write that article about two women's legs and clothes ....oh, hang on ...apparently it was "light hearted" ...that's ok then!!! Give me strength!!

Abusers know exactly how to control their victims and take away their self esteem no matter how many degrees they may have.