Man bashed ex’s partner

Man, 52, jailed for drunken assault on victim

A 52-YEAR-OLD man who bashed his ex-wife’s new partner and left him unconscious on the floor has been jailed for five years after pleading guilty to causing grievous bodily harm to the victim.

Toowoomba District Court heard Ross Andrew Burke was drunk when his ex-wife called him to say her new partner had punched her in the face leaving her with two black eyes.

Burke had a friend drive him from Dalby to Oakey where he entered his ex-wife’s home and attacked the victim on the evening of August 7, last year, Crown prosecutor Shontelle Petrie told the court.

Burke punched and kicked the man to the head a number of times and when he fell unconscious to the floor, he dragged him out onto a veranda and left him there while he and his ex-wife talked, the court heard.

The assault had occurred in front of Burke’s three children who were left crying after the incident, Ms Petrie said.

A neighbour who heard the commotion called police who found the victim unconscious in a pool of blood and called an ambulance, she said.

The victim was transported to Toowoomba Hospital and later flown to the Gold Coast Hospital for further treatment, she said.

The man suffered significant injuries and required surgery for brain swelling and was placed in an induced coma, the court heard.

Without medical treatment, he risked death, Ms Petrie said.

Burke, who had spent the ensuing 342 days in custody, was remorseful and apologised to the victim, his barrister Chris Wilson told the court.

His client had a longstanding problem with alcohol, he said.

Burke had not seen his three children since being taken into custody but the children and their mother were in court for the sentencing hearing, he said.

Judge Jennifer Rosengren described the assault as “gratuitous alcohol fuelled violence” and a “prolonged attack” and told Burke his behaviour that night was “appalling”.

Declaring the 342 of presentence custody as time already served under the sentence, Judge Rosengren sentenced Burke to five years in jail but ordered he be eligible to apply for release on parole as of April 6, 2023.