Man sent behind bars for violent attack on partner

JANESSA EKERT A FAR NORTHERN man has been jailed for violently assaulting his former partner.

During a fight on September 9 last year, he repeatedly punched her in the head before choking the woman, a court was told.

Joshua Francis, for Crown Prosecutions, said when the woman “slid down the wall’ on to the couch, he continued to assault her, including gouging her eye.

The Cairns District Court was told he assaulted her again about a month later by punching and kicking her, leaving the woman covered in blood.

Mr Francis said the man had told police that he “never squeezed” her neck, which was not accepted by the Crown.

He pleaded guilty yesterday to 13 charges, including unlawful strangulation, assault occa- sioning bodily harm and breaching a domestic violence order.

The court was told he also pleaded guilty to stealing a car, which he then used to evade police and steal fuel.

The man has already spent about five months in pre-sentence custody.

He was jailed for two and a half years and will be eligible for parole on October 24 this year.