Man jailed for attack on housemate

A LUTANA man who inflicted a vicious and prolonged attack on his housemate has been sentenced to four years’ jail.

John Anthony Curtis, 29, had pleaded not guilty in the Supreme Court in Hobart to five counts of assault and one count of intending to cause bodily harm, before Justice Michael Brett.

Curtis was found guilty on all counts by a jury.

The court previously heard that about 7am on November 11, 2016, two men were driving along the Brooker Highway on their way to work when they saw the victim wandering on and off the footpath on Risdon Rd with multiple facial injuries.

The men pulled over and helped the injured man, whose eyes were swollen shut, on to the footpath.

Curtis had assaulted the victim throughout his Risdon Rd house over a number of hours by punching him, hitting him with a metal object, forcing a hot towel into his eyes, strangling him and dragging him around by the hair.

It was alleged the defendant was on ice at the time of the attack and believed the victim had stolen his wallet.

The victim had told police he had been unable to defend himself due to his eyes being swollen shut early on in the attack.

Constable Aiden Parkinson had interviewed the victim in hospital and said he was told the attack lasted seven or eight hours and he may have been hit “50 to 100 times”.

Blood and clumps of hair were found throughout the house, as well as a shovel with blood on multiple areas.

Justice Brett said yesterday he was satisfied Curtis had used the shovel to strike the victim on a number of occasions, intending to cause grievous bodily harm.

The court heard that since 2012, Curtis had been convicted for offences involving assault, family violence and a dangerous driving incident, which left him with a serious head injury.

Justice Brett said Curtis was considered to be in the extremely low range of intellectual ability, but that should not have stopped him from knowing what he did was wrong.

“It was a terrible way to treat any person, let alone someone you claimed to call a friend,” he said.

“There is little, if anything, that mitigates your culpability.”

Curtis was also on bail for other violence matters at the time this assault happened, the court heard.

Justice Brett sentenced Curtis to four years in prison and he will not be eligible for parole before serving at least half that term.