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

Hear hear maryhoffman37.

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

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

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

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.”

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.

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

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?

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

Rigby Of course people should try to make a go of their marriage if it is bickering or irritations that are the problems - both should try to work it out; compromise is often the best thing if that can be achieved.

But this is entirely different - a physically violent and abusive man like should have been jailed and the judge's decision is a disgrace and gives the green light to abusive men and the red light so that women suffer in silence. A man can be outwardly charming, everyone thinks he is 'a jolly good fellow' but could be a monster behind closed doors and the woman may wonder if anyone would ever believe her. And she may feel shame that she cannot stop this - even nowadays women may wonder if they are doing something to deserve such treatment. And the judge's decision has reinforced that view.

Surely if she had drunk bleach she would be dead? This case completely baffles me, how on earth can it be ok to beat your wife and all that goes with that if she's an educated intelligent woman?! Like a lot of people I believe in marriage and not calling time at the first upset, but this behaviour is absolutely appalling and this man deserves a substantial prison sentence. I had a friend years ago who was in an abusive marriage, she did finally manage to 'run away' but it certainly wasn't easy, the main fear being if and when he found out her plan, (you can't just run out of the door) the consequences of which could have been terrifying. Fear is fear however intelligent or otherwise you are, and its shocking to live with every day of your life.

Maybe as well as not attending or absorbing his training on domestic abuse, this judge managed not to hear anything about the Archers story line. Maybe he's a misogynistic ....... he certainly needs training before being allowed near any domestic abuse, or family court hearings

Quite right too, Sparklefizz. Doesn't do to disturb the neighbours. At least wife beating doesn't do that.

Perhaps she was trying to make a go of her marriage. Perhaps she was in denial or felt she couldn't disclose the awfulness of it to anyone. Remember the recent Archers storyline everyone was full of praise for so recently? I recall a number of abused women (on Mnet, not here) coming out of the woodwork to say how difficult it was to LTB (leave the bastard)

Yet, according to the papers this morning, a mother of three who blasted Ed Sheeran music loudly and annoyed the neighbours, was jailed for 8 weeks!!!

I don't see how a cricket contract is relevant, even if it was true.
Let's hope he gets a further penalty for perjury, as well as imprisonment for assault.