Man jailed for violent assault

JAIL was not a sentence of last resort when the offence involved violence, a first-time offender has been told by a Toowoomba magistrate.

The 37-year-old man had spent the night in the watch house before appearing in Toowoomba Magistrates Court on charges arising from a particularly violent domestic incident Tuesday night.

Police prosecutor Catherine Nielsen told the court the man had been married to the 36year-old woman for three years but the couple was living apart though he sometimes still stayed with her.

She had picked him up from a Toowoomba hotel where he had been drinking on Wednesday night but had become abusive leading to the argument during which the woman locked him out of her home.

The man, who cannot be named, then smashed windows at the front of the home, cutting himself in the process and yelling for the woman to let him in, Senior Constable Nielsen said.

When the woman did let him in, he had bled over the floor and walls and followed the woman into her bedroom, damaging the door as he entered, before grabbing her and a struggle ensued.

During the struggle the man had thrown the woman to the floor and struck her, leaving her with bruising to her arms and both cheeks of her face, Snr Const. Nielsen said.

He had then pulled her by the hair.

She had punched him to break free and the man left but police caught up with him the next day.

He pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm and wilful damage.

Duty solicitor Amber Acreman told the court her client had been so drunk that he couldn’t remember much of the altercation.

Her client had no criminal history whatsoever and this was out of character for him.

Acting Magistrate Roger Stark sentenced the man to three months in jail but suspended the term in full for two years and placed him on 18 months probation.