A Russian man busted for beating up his girlfriend — turned in to police by President Donald Trump’s son Barron — was sentenced Friday in a London courtroom to four years in prison
Matvei Rumiantsev was found guilty in January after the president’s son, 19 at the time, alerted London police when he witnessed his female friend get beat up by the woman’s boyfriend during a FaceTime call.
A London judge described Rumiantsev as “a man given to jealousy” and “totally unrepentant” in that he refused to accept any responsibility for the attack, the New York Post and other outlets reported.
The judge sentenced the 23-year-old to two years for assault and two years for “perverting the court of justice” for sending the victim a letter from jail asking her to retract her claims.
“Your lack of insight and empathy was apparent at trial,” the judge said during sentencing. “You continue to try to blame the complainant for everything that has happened.”
The man may also be deported, the judge said.
Rumiantsev had also been accused of rape and strangulation but was found not guilty on those charges.
The assault came during what the Post called a “drunken rage” at his East London apartment after Rumiantsev spotted an incoming call from Barron Trump on the woman’s phone on January 18 of 2025 — only two days before Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States.
According to the Post:
The woman, who was not identified for legal reasons, and Barron had been speaking after meeting on social media and Rumiantsev claimed she had called the younger Trump her “sweetheart.”
The victim testified that Rumiantsev grabbed her hair, choked her, called her a “s–t and w—e,” and kicked her in the stomach. During the assault, he answered the first son’s FaceTime call and turned the camera to show the woman crying on the floor.
The judge said the evidence showed Rumiantsev had left her believing she “might die”.
The victim told Snaresbrook Crown Court that she credited the first son with coming to her rescue. Trump did not testify in the case and didn’t know the woman had a boyfriend, according to Rumiantsev’s defense attorney.
“He helped save my life,” she told the court. “That call was like a sign from God at that moment.”
Barron made a transatlantic call to police after he saw the woman sobbing on video, telling a London police operator: “It’s really an emergency… I’m calling from the U.S., uh, I just got a call from a girl, you know, she’s getting beat up.”
When the operator wanted to know how he knew the woman, the president’s son said: “I don’t think these details matter, she’s getting beat up but okay fine, also I met her on social media, I don’t think that matters.”
He followed with an emailed statement to police recounting what he saw:
The individual who picked up the phone was a shirtless man with darkish hair, although I didn’t get a good look, this view lasted maybe one second and I was racing with adrenaline. The camera was then flipped to the victim getting hit while crying, stating something in Russian. The guy had hung up. This whole interaction had lasted 5 to 7 seconds.
The judge also praised Trump, now 20, saying he’d acted “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.”
Rumiantsev testified that while he was jealous of Trump he also claimed that he had empathy for the first son because he also claimed that that he thought his girlfriend was leading him on.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of the Los Angeles crime novel Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.