DV abuser back at it

Man pleads guilty after punching partner, putting ‘hands around neck’

A REPEAT domestic violence offender has landed back in court after abusing his partner multiple times over a couple of days, including punching her and smashing her car with a dining room chair.

Murgon Magistrates Court was told the 50-year-old, who cannot be named to protect his victim, showed up to the woman’s home on the night of May 7 and began shaking her awake, accusing her of having an affair with another man.

The woman got up to leave the property and was heading across the street to spend the night with a relative when she heard “banging and crashing” coming from inside her house, police prosecutor Sergeant Barry Stevens said.

She returned the next morning to find the front and rear windscreen and rear side window of her car smashed, with a piece of broken dining room chair lodged in the glass.

The violence escalated later that morning when a friend offered to pay for the damage to the woman’s car, which she declined while saying it was her partner who should pay.

“He became aggressive and called her a sl-t,” Sergeant Stevens said. “He then ran at her to start a fight, which was broken up quickly.”

After further discussions about whose responsibility it was to pay, the man “put his hands up to her neck” and started punching her.

The victim was hanging out with family and friends the following night, when the man showed up and began yelling at her and calling her degrading names.

He then announced he was leaving for another woman’s house and asked the victim if she’d “like to come watch (him) f--k her”, Sergeant Stevens told the court.

The prosecutor said the woman reported that the comments left her “embarrassed” and concerned for her reputation in the small community.

The 50-year-old, who appeared in court via videolink from jail, has a 12-page criminal history which includes 20 prior convictions for breaching domestic violence orders.

He pleaded guilty to four counts of contravening a domestic violence order.

The matter was adjourned to August 11 for sentencing.