Brutal lover locked up

Eight years for ‘ new’ offence

A MAN who forced sex on his unwilling partner has been sentenced to eight years jail after pleading guilty to one count of the reasonably- new charge of persistent family violence.

“It is only some two years since the crime of persistent family violence was created under the Criminal Code, so that no discernible sentencing range is possible,” Justice Stephen Estcourt told the man in the Supreme Court in Burnie last week.

“The defendant must however suffer the same penalty as he would have suffered had the penalty been imposed in respect of the individual acts of rape constituting the crime of persistent family violence.

“Each of the identified incidents were thoughtless, selfish and brutish and together they have obviously had devastating psychological long- term effects on the complainant.”

The man, who can’t be named to protect the victim, was in a relationship with the woman for four years before separating in May, 2018. They have one child.

The Burnie Supreme Court heard the pair — both in their 20s — had a normal sex life before and during her pregnancy but after giving birth her “sex drive was significantly lower and basically non- existent”.

In sentencing, Justice Estcourt said the young woman had spoken to the defendant about her lack of interest in sexual intercourse but over the course of their relationship the defendant had sexual intercourse with her without her consent on at least 20 occasions.

On one occasion the complainant was told to “just lay there and take it”. The complainant was crying but the defendant continued. In 2018, she asked the defendant to leave the house in which they were living. When he refused she called police. “At the time she did that she outlined a brief history of the relationship to police, before making a more detailed statutory declaration. The defendant was subsequently interviewed and arrested.”

A victim impact given to the court showed the victim suffered severely from depression and anxiety.

She was spared from giving evidence because of his plea of guilty.

The man was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment with parole eligibility after serving half of that sentence.