The catalogue of injuries prosecutors say James Argent’s model ex-girlfriend suffered when the former Towie star attacked her on the Costa del Sol can be revealed.
Prosecution documents drafted ahead of a trial where the 37-year-old admitted a domestic violence crime claim she suffered several injuries to her neck, arms, hand and leg.
The document says it took a week for the bruising and grazing that former Miss Sweden Nicoline Artursson was left with to heal.
And it can today be revealed public prosecutors wanted Argent jailed for nine months for the more serious crime of wounding before he entered plea bargain deal after admitting a crime of ‘mistreatment’.
The TV star-turned-singer was told his six-month jail term was being suspended after putting his hands up to his offence which took place outside the home the couple were sharing in La Cala de Mijas near Marbella.
(Picture: James Argent/Instagram)
He was warned after the hearing at Fuengirola’s Court of Violence Against Women he would be made to do his time behind bars if he breaches a two-year restraining order preventing him from contacting Nicoline, 32, and fails to attend a resocialization course he was ordered to do.
A provisional prosecution indictment, drafted before the plea deal, says the attack happened at 12.40am on May 5 during a row with his victim at a beachfront house in popular resort La Cala near to Elliott Wright’s restaurant where Argent regularly sings.
It adds: ‘During the argument, and with the intention of harming her physical integrity, he grabbed hold of her tightly by her arm and pushed her causing her to fall down the stairs.’
Offering a detailed description of the injuries Nicoline suffered, a prosecutor said in the written document: ‘The injured woman suffered several bruises to her neck, a bruise to her right forearm, several abrasions to her right arm, and abrasions to her right hand and on her right leg.’
Confirming she received medical assistance, the prosecutor said: ‘The injuries she suffered healed in seven days on skin and soft tissue.’
The indictment shows public prosecutors were intending to push for a nine-month prison sentence for Argent for a crime of wounding and ask a judge to stop him from contacting his former girlfriend or going within 650 feet of her for three years on conviction, one more than the two-year order included as part of his sentence.
He was also facing demands to make Nicoline a three-figure compensation payout.
Argent had to admit to a crime of ‘mistreatment’ as part of the plea bargain agreement his defence lawyer struck with a public prosecutor.
He returned to the UK after being convicted and was branded shameless at the weekend after being seen smiling and posing with guests after returning to the stage to sing.
Friends told the Sun he was acting as if nothing had happened when he performed at London’s Connaught Rooms last Friday.
He is due to perform at pal Elliott Wright’s restaurant Olivia’s La Cala on Thursday for the first time since he assaulted Nicoline.
His ex has holed up in an apartment where her parents live close to the house where she was assaulted.
She was pictured walking her dog with her mum last week but acquaintances say she is still recovering from the shock of the attack by her boyfriend of nine months. One said she looked ‘sad’ in the aftermath of the assault and didn’t take off sunglasses ‘she never usually wears in public.’
Officials in Spain have not pointed to Argent, who has spoken openly about turning his life round after a harrowing cocaine addiction, being drunk or on drugs when he hit out and he has denied he has relapsed in his only public comments so far since the ugly incident.
Well-placed sources have said the fact he was dealt with by the courts the same day of his arrest suggests he was sober when he lashed out.
Andalucia’s High Court of Justice said last Tuesday: ‘The matter was resolved in Fuengirola’s Court of Violence Against Women.
‘There was a plea agreement on May 5 and a trial the same day. In trials of this kind it is the prosecutor who suggests a conviction after negotiating with the defence.
‘It implies that the defendant acknowledges the facts and admits the penalty. The judgment is now final having been accepted.
‘It consists of a sentence of six months in prison for the commission of a crime of mistreatment in the ambit of gender violence. It also implies a prohibition on approaching and communicating with the victim for a period of two years.
‘The convicted person will not enter prison as he had no criminal record in Spain.
‘For this reason, the sentence is suspended but on condition that, over a period of two years he does not approach or communicate with the victim and has to carry out a re-socialization course in the field of gender violence.
‘The suspension would be revoked if it fails to comply with the measures imposed. The sentence will be sent to a criminal court that will be responsible for its execution and compliance with the measures implicit therein.’
It later emerged Argent would be made to listen to the testimonies of domestic violence survivors as part of his obligatory rehabilitation course.
A judge has yet to finalise the details of his ‘re-socialization programme’ and the possibility he could be made to sign up to one lasting around 10 months has not been ruled out.
But experts say they expect Argent to be obliged to attend ten once-a-week workshops where educators will try to make him see what he did was wrong and help him ensure he doesn’t reoffend in the future.
James Argent’s relationship history with Nicoline
Argent, who last performed at Elliott Wright’s Costa restaurant on May 1, confirmed he was dating Nicoline last September.
The pair told OK! magazine in their first interview together last November they were living together after she moved into his home in Essex and were already looking ahead to starting a family together.
Reliving the moment they met for the first time as James walked to a gig at Olivia’s La Cala, he told OK! Magazine: ‘All of a sudden I see this woman coming towards me. I was like, “Wow, she’s beautiful.”
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Victim Support offers support to survivors of rape and sexual abuse. You can contact them on 0333 300 6389.
‘She was just in her gym clothes, wearing no make-up. She’d actually just fed a stray cat. We both smiled and kind of giggled at each other. And Nicoline carried on walking. Then I thought, “What have I got to lose?” So I turned around and said, “Hey”.
‘Someone as beautiful as Nicoline, sometimes these sort of people are used to guys trying to talk to them and they’re not interested. But she was so friendly and made me comfortable.’
It was reported last week James’ close friendship with ex-girlfriend Lydia Bright sparked a row between him and Nicoline hours before his attack.
Nicoline shared a cryptic post on Instagram which was deleted not long after she posted it to her 32,000 followers.
It read: ‘Had an interesting conversation with a friend.
‘Is it OK if your boyfriend or girlfriend is talking and hanging out with their ex and the exes family daily and liking their Instagram posts etc? No kids involved with the ex.
‘And then it shows up on your explore page that your partner showed that interest with them but they blame you for seeing it and now the ex is supposedly their “best friend”.’
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