Nine years jail for terror

Man raped, beat and strangled mum of his kids

A TASMANIAN man who raped and assaulted his long term partner and mother of his children has received a nine year prison sentence for his latest “brutal, degrading, domineering and violent” behaviour.

In the Supreme Court in Hobart before Justice Helen Wood, the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty by a jury of two counts of assault, two of rape and one of perverting the course of justice. The court heard on April 1 last year the man came to the woman’s house in southern Tasmania in defiance of an indefinite family violence order.

He had been released from prison three weeks earlier.

Justice Wood said he tried to force her to perform oral sex on him and when she wet herself and went to the toilet to clean herself up, he dragged her off the toilet by the hair into the bedroom and held a hand to her throat while having sex with her without her consent.

Justice Wood said strangulation was a “particularly serious type of assault” which in this case had been carried out as a form of control to “instil terror.”

“Strangulation can give rise to internal injuries and death can easily

Wood said.

The court heard five days later, the man called his sister and asked her to encourage the woman to not pursue charges against him.

“Clearly, he expected he could emotionally manipulate the complainant,” Justice Wood said.

A victim impact statement said the woman had suffered result,”

Justice from considerable trauma, had recurring nightmares and was now a fearful person.

Justice Wood said the man had a significant number of relevant prior convictions, many relating to breaches of family violence orders taken out by the woman, for which he received partially or wholly suspended prison sentences in some cases. The couple had been in a relationship for 17 years and had three children together. The man had been in custody for the latest matters since April 2 last year.

Justice Wood sentenced the man to a global term for the “brutal, degrading, domineering and violent” assaults and rapes of eight years in prison and he will not be eligible for parole before serving at least five years.

For perverting the course of justice, he received a further 12 months in prison and must serve at least seven months before being eligible for parole.