Man jailed over knife attack on ex

A MAN who wounded his former partner by throwing a bread knife at her head three months after being released from prison on parole will spend more time behind bars.

A Supreme Court jury found Paul Wayne Simpson, 29, guilty of one count of wounding.

“This is a particularly serious example of a crime of family violence, committed on a victim who was vulnerable and unable to protect herself from the defendant’s violent rage,” Justice Helen Wood said when she sentenced Simpson on October 23 in the Supreme Court in Hobart.

Justice Wood said Simpson had been in a relationship with his former partner for about 12 years and they had three children together.

They had been separated for a few months and a family violence order was in place.

The court heard that on the night of August 14 last year, Simpson arrived at the house where the woman and two of the children were staying. He was intoxicated and affected by drugs.

“He was angry, volatile and aggressive,” Justice Wood said.

She said Simpson was standing within 3m of the woman when he threw a serrated edge bread knife at her head, causing a 6cm laceration.

“Once the defendant saw the complainant’s bleeding face and realised what he had done, he went to her aid, found a cloth and put it to her face to help stop the bleeding,” Justice Wood said. “He apologised and his expression of remorse was genuine.”

Justice Wood said the woman was left with a scar and remained significantly distressed, and two of the children were “subjected to a terrifying and emotionally disturbing experience”.

Justice Wood said Simpson’s childhood was “marred by trauma due to violence”.

He has spent most of his adult life in prison, including for manslaughter committed in 2007.

Justice Wood sentenced Simpson to three years and six months’ jail for the wounding crime, with a non-parole period of 22 months.

Justice Wood said Simpson would also be subject to a parole order for a year from his release that would include rehabilitation programs.