A Russian national has been jailed for assaulting a woman in an attack which was witnessed on a video call by President Donald Trump’s youngest son Barron.
Matvei Rumiantsev has been jailed at Snaresbrook Crown Court for four years.
Rumiantsev was also convicted of perverting the course of justice after writing to his victim from prison, asking her to withdraw her allegations.
He was found not guilty of one count of rape and intentional strangulation relating to the same day of the assault, and another count of rape and assault alleged to have occurred in November 2024.
The 23-year-old drunkenly beat up the victim when he became jealous of her blossoming friendship with Mr Trump, 19, after she met him through social media.
During the assault, he answered a FaceTime call on her phone from Mr Trump and turned the camera to show her crying on the floor.
In a 999 call to City of London Police on January 18 last year, the US President’s son pleaded for help for the woman, telling the operator: “It’s really an emergency. I’m calling from the US, uh I just got a call from a girl, you know, she’s getting beat up.”
Matvei Rumiantsev has been jailed at Snaresbrook Crown Court
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PAThe woman herself managed to call 999 after enduring violence lasting an hour, telling the operator: “Please help me, I’m gonna get killed.”
At Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday, Rumiantsev, described as a “trained fighter”, was sentenced by Mr Justice Bennathan.
“You are a man given to jealousy and you have a temper”, said the judge, before criticising Rumiantsev for being “totally unrepentant” and failing to accept blame for the attack.
The judge said: “Your lack of insight and empathy was apparent at trial. You continue to try to blame the complainant for everything that has happened.”
Barron Trump told the 999 operator ‘It’s really an emergency, please. I got a call from her with a guy beating her up,’
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GETTYHe pointed to a letter from Rumiantsev said his actions that night had been “inappropriate”, telling him: “That’s a very long way from you facing up to the simple truth of what happened that night.”
He said the evidence shows Rumiantsev had repeatedly struck the woman over the course of an hour, dragged her by her hair when she tried to seek help, and leaving her believing she “might die”.
After his arrest, Rumiantsev made “repeated efforts” to try to avoid justice by convincing the woman to withdraw her allegations, with a phone call from the police station and a letter to a friend while he was in prison.
Rumiantsev, who lived in Canary Wharf, London, was convicted at trial of the assault and perverting the course of justice, relating to a letter he sent from prison attempting to persuade the woman to drop her allegations.
Barron Trump is the youngest child of the President and First Lady Melania Trump
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GETTY
The jury acquitted him of two charges of rape, assault, and intentional strangulation.
In a victim impact statement, the woman who was assaulted said she “withdrew from the world entirely” in the aftermath, and said she felt “humiliated, afraid and ashamed”.
She added she is living with “constant terror and uncertainty about the defendant’s release.” Mr Trump was a key witness in the case, and sent an email to police last May describing the “very brief” sight he had of the assault as it unfolded.
The victim of the attack said she believes Rumiantsev deliberately answered the FaceTime call and showed her crying and screaming on the floor as a form of punishment.
Prosecutor Serena Gates KC said: “She thinks the phone call was answered and the assault shown on video because the defendant wanted an audience.”
The judge praised Mr Trump’s actions, saying he had “properly and responsibly” alerted the emergency services despite being in the US.
The hearing took place at Snaresbrook Crown Court
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PAAt trial, Ms Gates said Rumiantsev was jealous of the woman’s friendship with Mr Trump, perhaps because of his “public profile”.
The prosecution said Rumiantsev, who comes from a wealthy family and has martial arts training, assaulted the woman that day, including hitting her in the face.
The court heard Rumiantsev became aware of the woman’s friendship with Mr Trump in October 2024, and during questioning at trial he described himself as “jealous to some extent”
He added: “What I was really unhappy about was that she was frankly leading him [Barron Trump] on.”
In a report from counselling sessions which was handed to the judge, Rumiantsev was said to be “taking responsibility for his own shortcomings”.
The judge said Rumiantsev may be deported from the UK as a consequence of his convictions.