The petitioner sought a divorce alleging cruelty. A decree had been granted by the judge and the husband now appealed saying that the acts alleged fell short of cruelty.
Held: ‘The finding that the husband had been guilty of acts of violence towards his wife on four occasions in the year 1952 is ample to warrant the granting of a Decree on the ground of cruelty unless there be something to show that, in all the circumstances, a Decree ought not to have been granted either because the acts were not serious acts, or for some other reason. Acts of violence by a husband towards his wife such as were found in this case must be regarded seriously. There may be some excuse in some cases of tempers up when the man loses control of himself, but it in difficult to see that there can be any excuse for the acts which, on the Commissioner’s finding, were committed by the husband against the wife in this case, and those acts of violence followed a course of conduct which showed an unpleasant steak somewhere if, an I think it was, the evidence of the wife was believed.’
Singleton, Hodson, Moris LJJ
[1955] EWCA Civ 2, [1955] 2 WLR 817, [1955] P 153, [1955] 2 All ER 51
Bailii
England and Wales
Family
Leading Case
Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.262838