Judge rejects goat owner’s assault appeal
A MAN who bashed and throttled his wife in a rage after their pet goat urinated on a couch has failed to overturn his conviction.
In April this year, Acton Park man Todd Andrew Tatnell avoided jail after a jury found him guilty of grabbing his wife’s throat, pushing her, sitting on her and holding her down before striking her face in October 2018.
However Tatnell, 33, was convicted of assault and received a one-year suspended jail term and a two-year community correction order.
He was acquitted of a further two counts of assault.
Tatnell argued before the Court of Criminal Appeal that his conviction be overturned because the jury verdict was unsafe and unsatisfactory.
Dismissing his appeal, Justice Michael Brett said the married couple had a good relationship before the day in question when they went fishing and later hosted some family members at home.
But when the pet goat gained access to the living room and urinated on the couch, the couple started arguing about who would clean up the mess before the argument “progressed into other issues”.
After his wife threw two wine glasses in anger at a sliding door, Tatnell became physically violent, saying “you’re not so tough now, are you, bitch?” as he throttled her.
But Tatnell disputed that version of events, saying he’d been struck by one of the wine glasses and that he acted in self-defence when he held the woman down.
“He denied having his hands around her neck and choking her at any time, although he did concede that his hands may have come into contact with her neck during the scuffle,” Justice Brett said.
“He denied hitting her. He also denied punching a hole in the wall.”
Tatnell argued his wife was not a credible witness as she made a number of inconsistent statements, but the judge said there was “nothing improbable or unreasonable” about her explanation.
Justice Brett said there was photographic evidence showing bruising to the woman’s eye and marks to her neck, which was “convincing support” to her claim of choking.