A man who assaulted his defacto partner when she was in the shower and threatened to snap her neck was given a full-time jail sentence when he appeared in court.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The 55-year-old Orange man has not been named in order to protect the identity of the woman.
According to a report submitted to the court, the man and woman had returned to their home in Orange from a visit to Sydney and began arguing at 8.30pm on March 15, 2023.
The man blamed the woman for not being able to see his family and the argument lasted for a short period before the victim decided to go to sleep.
However, while they were in bed the man told her, "I will snap your neck if I don't get my grandson".
The woman was concerned by the threat but still managed to fall asleep.
Shower assault
The man, however, was still angry the following morning and began to verbally abuse the woman while she was in the shower at 10.30am.
While abusing her he threw a mop bucket at her, which hit her. He then threw a small mirror cutting her on the arm and ankle.
The assault continued and while she was still trapped in the shower he punched her in the head a number of times while she tried to cover her body.
The victim managed to get out of the shower, get dressed and left the location.
While walking down the stairs, the accused followed the victim yelling at her to give him the house keys and he took another swing at her in an attempt to hit her.
She handed him the keys and left the address and at 3pm on March 17, 2023 she attended Orange Police Station and provided a statement.
Arrest
The man was arrested at 4.20pm that afternoon but he denied making any threats or assaulting the victim.
When police showed him photographs of her injuries he said they were weeks old.
The man was also sentenced in Orange Local Court for contravening an apprehended violence order.
The order prevented the man from going near or contacting the same victim however, on July 13, 2023, police went to his address and found the victim was also at the address.
This was a contravention of both his AVO and his bail conditions for the earlier assault.
Magistrate David Day said the man also failed to appear in court on April 4 this year and he was convicted in his absence on that day of the assault and intimidation.
Mr Day also brought up the contravention of the AVO.
"It is my house, Your Honour," the man responded.
"He has a lengthy record, hasn't he?" Mr Day continued adding that his crimes occurred in phases with DV being much more recent.
Drugs and family dispute
Solicitor Simone Thackray said her client hadn't offended for the past "seven or so years" before these offences.
"The victim kept him on the straight and narrow and helped him," she said.
However, she said the assault offences took place as a result of a family dispute and he was concerned he wouldn't be allowed to see his grandchildren.
She added that for many years he'd been denied access to his grandchildren because of his drug use and that drug use had recently resumed.
The sentence
The man has been in custody since July 13 this year and appeared in court via an audio visual link.
Mr Day read aloud the information from the report that had been submitted by the prosecution.
"She was in the shower at the time so it was hard to [fight] back," he said.
"He had already threatened her before he assaulted her."
For assaulting and intimidating the woman as well as failing to appear in court, Mr Day sentenced the man to seven months of full-time jail with a three month non-parole period back-dated to July 13, 2023.
The sentence took into account the man's need for drug rehabilitation and treatment programs.
Mr Day also gave the man a two-year supervised community correction order for contravening the AVO on July 13. That sentence will also require rehabilitation and treatment.
Reading this on mobile web? Download our news app. It's faster, easier to read and we'll send you alerts for breaking news as it happens. Download in the Apple Store or Google Play.
Sign-up to our latest newsletter.
