Abusive ex sent to jail
A YOUNG mother has been left with a permanent jaw injury after she was bashed by her abusive ex-partner in a violent outburst.
Keiren Wayne Oliver was jailed by Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to three counts of assault occasioning bodily harm.
The court heard the first occurred in Toowoomba in 2019 during an argument about his addiction to ice.
When she asked him to leave their house, the now-25year-old punched her in the face and knocked out a tooth.
The second assault occurred in September this year during a fight over an empty packet of cigarettes.
The court heard the woman offered to buy more but the man lost it and threw an object at her as she left the house. He then punched her on the side in the head, causing her to lose consciousness and fall over a steel chair.
The court heard the assault left the woman with a permanent lump on her chin and she can no longer fully open her jaw.
The final assault occurred in October when the woman told her partner she was leaving him. The court heard he punched her in the stomach and threatened to stomp on her head if she left.
She laid against the door in their Toowoomba home, crying in fear that if she left he would assault her again.
Defence lawyer Kirstie Smith said her client was jailed for a year as young man for an offence “that had been a source of shame” for him.
As a result, he left his hometown of St George and started abusing ice.
“He has never dealt with that shame,” Ms Smith said.
“He had started using the needle and that was a recipe for disaster in his eyes.”
She added her client was turning his life around and asked for a short jail term so he could access rehabilitation services in the community.
However, Acting Magistrate Rowan Silva, who was scathing in his assessment of Oliver’s actions.
“A short period of imprisonment goes nowhere near reflecting the seriousness of the offending,” he said. “He has treated his partner horribly over a number of years.
“In my view, the remorse has come too late in his case.”
Oliver was jailed for 15 months and will be released on parole on March 29.