Nicholas Fabian sentenced to life imprisonment for attempted murder of pregnant wife

18/02/2011

33 year old Nicholas Fabian was sentenced to life imprisonment today with a recommendation he serves a minimum of 16 years, after a jury found him guilty yesterday of the attempted murder of his pregnant wife Victoria Fabian by booby trapping her car with a grenade.

The jury returned their guilty verdict in just over an hour, having sat through detailed evidence and arguments throughout the nine-day trial. They unanimously found him guilty on the charge of the attempted murder of his wife and on the charge of causing an explosion likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to property.

The court had heard that around 1pm on Friday 5 March 2010, a car containing Victoria Fabian and her 8 year old son has exploded in a small private car park close to the Fabian family home in Highview, Vigo in Kent. Victoria sustained serious injuries to her lower legs and will never fully recover functionality and will suffer permanent pain for the rest of her life. Her eight year old son miraculously suffered no injuries and her unborn baby was also unharmed in the explosion.

Detailed forensic work revealed that a British Army issue L109 grenade had been attached to the wheel arch of Victorias car using a fish hook and line and once the wheel turned this pulled the pin on the grenade causing the explosion.

The court heard that Army Reservist Nicholas Fabian had been due to start a tour of duty in Afghanistan in March 2010 and in preparation for his deployment he had attended a number of army training exercises in early 2010 including a live fire exercise in January. It was at this exercise that Fabian had access to and stole the grenade he used to try and kill Victoria. The court had heard he even boasted about the theft to a fellow soldier on the coach journey back to barracks from the exercise.

In addition, it was revealed that Fabian had been involved in an extra-marital affair with a work colleague, who he claimed in court he was obsessed and infatuated with.

Alistair Dickson, Senior Crown Prosecutor, said:

Nicholas Fabian was well aware of the capabilities of an L109 grenade and had a clear opportunity to steal the grenade from an army exercise. He knew it was a weapon designed to kill or cause very serious injury, but chose to use that weapon to blow up his wife by attaching it to the wheel arch of her car. His actions are all the more shocking because he did this with the knowledge that Victoria Fabian was 24 weeks pregnant at the time and an eight year old child was in the car beside her. Explosive material, fragments of paint matching the grenade and ammunition found in his shed all pointed towards his guilt.

 Victoria Fabian can now move forward knowing justice has been done. However, the physical and psychological harm will never be undone. She was brave enough to decide not to give her evidence from behind a screen but wanted to face Nicholas Fabian in court so he was fully aware of what he had done to her. We would like to thank Victoria Fabian and all our witnesses who were determined to support the prosecution. Their accounts during the trial have secured Fabians conviction and ensure that he now faces the consequences of his actions.

Detective Inspector Lee Whitehead, from the Major Crime team of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, who led the investigation, said:

This has been an extraordinary case as it is hard to imagine how anyone could want to murder their pregnant wife and child by blowing them up in a car with a grenade.

I am pleased that having considered the complex evidence, the jury returned a guilty verdict so quickly and that Nicholas Fabian will now spend a considerable amount of time behind bars paying for this heinous crime.

I want to praise the bravery of Victoria Fabian who in addition to dealing with the serious injuries she sustained has also had to live through a traumatic trial and the evidence given.

I also want to thank all the other witnesses for the prosecution and experts who assisted with this investigation, including those from the military, all of whom have given up their time and expertise to help bring Fabian to justice.