Russian man gets 4 years in prison for assault witnessed by Barron Trump

A Russian man was sentenced to four years in prison Friday for assaulting a woman in London in an attack that was witnessed on a video call and reported to the police by U.S. President Donald Trump’s son, Barron.

Matvei Rumiantsev, 23, was convicted by a jury on Jan. 28 of assault with bodily harm but was acquitted of rape and choking charges. He was also convicted of perverting the course of justice because he sent the woman a letter from jail asking her to retract her allegations, the Associated Press reports.

During his sentencing remarks at Snaresbrook Crown Court in east London, Justice Joel Bennathan said Rumiantsev was “totally unrepentant” and a “man given to jealousy.”

“Your lack of insight and empathy was apparent at trial,” the judge said. “You continue to try to blame the complainant for everything that has happened.”

During the attack, Trump, 20, was on a FaceTime video call with a woman, who’s entitled to anonymity under U.K. law, when he said he saw a man repeatedly punch her, the Snaresbrook Court Crown in London was told in January.

Rumiantsev denied the allegations and told the court that he became upset when he accused the woman of calling Trump “sweetheart.”

A transcript of an emergency call released by the Crown Prosecution Service revealed Trump’s call to emergency services about the alleged assault.

“I’m calling from the U.S., I just got a call from a girl, you know, she’s getting beat up,” Trump said in a transcript released by prosecutors.

“This was happening about eight minutes ago,” he continued. “I just figured out how to, how to call someone. It’s really an emergency.”

When the operator asked Trump how he witnessed the alleged assault, he said: “Uh, I got a call from her with a guy beating her up.”

The operator asked: “How do you know her?”

“I don’t think these details matter, she’s getting beat up, but OK fine, also I met her on social media. I don’t think that matters,” he said.

The operator asked Trump to “stop being rude” and “actually answer my questions.”

“If you want to help the person, you’ll answer my questions clearly and precisely,” the operator said.

After telling the operator that he did not know the name of the man allegedly assaulting the woman, Trump said, “Sorry for being rude.”

Police went to the address and arrested Rumiantsev, a receptionist who lived in London.

Rumiantsev testified that he was jealous of Trump but that he also felt badly for him because he thought that his girlfriend was leading him on.

During the trial, defence lawyer Sasha Wass said that Trump didn’t know the woman had a boyfriend and questioned how much he could have seen in five or seven seconds of video. She said the woman had exploited her ties to Trump to make her boyfriend envious in a “relationship full of dramas.”

Trump did not testify in the case but the judge praised him for contacting police and helping prevent something worse. He said the victim feared she was about to be killed.

“Mr. Trump properly and responsibly, despite being in the United States, made sure the emergency services here were called, and he told them what he had seen,” he said.

The woman also told the court that Trump’s call to police had helped stop Rumiantsev from killing her.

“He helped save my life. That call was like a sign from God at that moment,” she said, according to the court transcript.

— with files from The Associated Press