AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS EX-SOLDIER SENTENCED TO LIFE FOR TRYING TO BOMB HIS WIFE
A man who previously served as a reservist has been sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of attempting to kill his pregnant wife by planting a grenade as a trap in her car.The judge described Nicholas Fabian, aged 33, as 'wicked beyond belief' after he was caught trying to detonate the explosive device in a wheel arch near the driver’s footwell, intended to cause harm to nurse Victoria Fabian.
Investigators believe Fabian, who was preparing for deployment to Afghanistan, intended to murder his wife so he could be with his mistress, Jackie Phillips.
The explosion occurred on 5 March last year, as Victoria Fabian, also 33, was about to drive away in a borrowed Mazda close to their family home in Vigo, Kent.
Her eight-year-old son, who was in the vehicle, escaped injury, and her unborn child also remained unharmed.
Victoria, who was 24 weeks pregnant, gave birth to a healthy baby boy three months later.
After a quick jury deliberation of just an hour, Fabian was found guilty of attempted murder and causing an explosion likely to endanger life.
At Maidstone Crown Court, Judge Andrew Patience QC sentenced him to a minimum of 16 years for the attempted murder charge, and issued a concurrent 15-year sentence for the related explosion.
The judge stated, "What you did in causing that explosion, with the consequences which flowed from it on 5 March last year, was wicked beyond belief.
You conceived a plan to rid yourself of your wife which demonstrated low cunning in its planning and preparation, and utter heartlessness and chilling ruthlessness in its execution." He further remarked that evidence from Fabian’s shed indicated that explosives were on his mind.
Addressing Fabian directly, the judge said, "You are an evil man who was prepared to destroy at least one human life in order to achieve your own selfish ends.
"Not only are you evil but you present a danger to the general public." He emphasized that the crimes were so heinous they evoked feelings of horror and revulsion from the court and the crowd.
The judge noted Fabian’s obsessive relationship with his mistress and his deception of his wife, even during their last days together when he concealed his true intentions.
He warned that in the future, Fabian’s son would discover his father’s attempt to harm him before he was born, and added that Victoria Fabian would face ongoing physical suffering.
