Gillingham attack: Man guilty of killing girlfriend's unborn baby

Asa Davison will be sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court in December

A man has been found guilty of killing his girlfriend's unborn baby in a "terrifying and deadly ordeal".

Asa Davison, 35, was angry she was carrying another man's child, which was conceived before they started their relationship, Bournemouth Crown Court heard.

He told friends before the fatal assault that it "broke [his] heart".

CCTV footage showed Davison, from Silton, Dorset, "hunting" for the woman across Gillingham on 29 May 2020.

The woman, who was 29 weeks pregnant, was subjected to a "prolonged assault" in the street that left her with multiple injuries and needing hospital treatment.

The baby was found to have died following the assault on its mother, whose injuries included a bruise the size of a fist on her abdomen and a fractured eye socket.

Child destruction

Prosecutor Sarah Jones QC said Davison attacked his girlfriend because "he wanted that baby dead".

Witnesses saw Davison kicking the woman and "treating [her] like a dog", she said.

Asa Davison's "hunt" for his partner took him to New Road in Gillingham, the court was told

He assaulted her again on 16 September 2020 in an attack that left her "shocked by her own reflection", Ms Jones said.

The court heard Davison had later tried to get his victim to give a false account of the attacks on the phone from prison.

He was found guilty of child destruction, grievous bodily harm with intent, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and perverting the course of justice.

He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced by Mrs Justice Cutts on 21 December.