YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS

Courts choke on strangulation sentencing

THE State Opposition has demanded mandatory minimum sentences for people who strangle their partners following another soft sentence for a domestic violence thug yesterday.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, choked his partner and pinned his nine-year-old daughter against a wall.

He walked from court yesterday after serving just 10 months in jail.

A Bulletin investigation has found at least six men convicted of strangling their partners since late August have walked from court after spending no more than eight months in custody.

THE State Opposition wants mandatory minimum sentences for people who strangle their partners.

It comes after a Gold Coast man faced court yesterday for choking his partner until she could not breathe on April 7 last year.

The terrifying attack continued until his nine-year-old daughter tried to intervene and he pinned her to the wall. The girl wet her pants in fear.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was given a two-and-a-half-year sentence, but walked from Southport District Court yesterday after only 10 months in custody.

The sentence follows a Bulletin investigation into how courts have handled similar cases in the past six months.

The investigation found six men walked after serving no more than eight months.

The maximum penalty is seven years jail for non-fatal sentencing, but those sentenced in the Southport District Court are facing on average two years behind bars.

Some are released after serving just a few months.

LNP shadow minister for women Ros Bates said no one deserved to live in fear of strangulation and the court needed to reflect that.

“There are no mandatory minimum sentencing for crimes other than one-punch,” she said. “That is something that needs to be considered (for choking).”

New strangulation laws were introduced in April 2016 and many of the cases are only now making their way through the court system to the sentencing stage.

When the offence was introduced, police were charging about three Queenslanders a day with strangulation.

Ms Bates said someone who had been choked by a partner was eight times more likely to be a victim of domestic homicide.

“We have some of the toughest domestic violence laws and sentences are still not meeting community expectations,” she said.

“A young child should not have to endure something like that and know what it feels like to be thrown against the wall like a rag doll.

“I know what that feels like because I have been there.”

Gold Coast Centre Against Domestic Violence director Di Macleod said recent sentencing was not cutting it.

“I don’t know that they are holding offenders accountable,” she said. “We do need to take it seriously. I just think we need to get real about sentencing overall. It’s clearly not sending a strong message to perpetrators.”

Next week experts from around the world will meet in Brisbane for a training course about dealing with strangulation in a domestic setting.