FD25P00003 - [2025] EWHC 827 (Fam)

On 14 November 2023, KS covertly recorded an argument in which FB is abusive to him because he has communicated directly online with a woman who was trying to book one of FB’s rental properties. The transcript of the recording shows that H was present and at points awake and crying. In the course of the fight, KS asks her to stop punching him, and FB says ‘No. I will fucking punch you when I want to, [KS]…the only person I want to punch is you.’ I have borne in mind when considering the transcript that only KS was aware that the argument was being recorded. FB does not take any issue with its accuracy or with it being considered by the court. She apologised for her behaviour on that occasion, but denied that the transcript demonstrates that she is unable to control her temper. She denied noticing KS’s injuries at the time, even though the photos he took show a number of bright red scratches on his arm and a large yellow bruise across his eye.

In June 2024, FB became very angry because KS had sent an entirely innocuous message to a female work colleague. She suggested in oral evidence that she was actually cross because he was spending too much time on his phone, but the contemporaneous messages clearly show that she was angry because she thought KS had given the work colleague too much praise. She told KS he would regret it, and there are photos of his bruises and scratches that correspond with the timing of this argument.