Beaten so badly she couldn’t eat

A GOLD Coast man has pleaded guilty to repeatedly throttling and beating his former partner so badly she had to be hospitalised.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to two counts of assault causing grievous bodily harm and four counts of common assault in the Southport District Court yesterday.

The court heard he “snapped” while sitting with his partner in November 2015 and started “throwing her around the room” and “hit her around the head”.

The woman ran from the house and hid behind a bush, but he found her and took her back inside the house where he continued to punch her in the face and ribs.

In hospital it was discovered she had a partially collapsed lung. She couldn’t swallow or eat for days afterwards.

Within the next few months the woman went to the man’s home to pick up belongings with her mother. The man grabbed her by the throat, lifted her off the ground with one hand and pushed her against a cupboard after they got into an argument.

In October 2016, she was hospitalised again after he held an elbow over her throat and punched her.

In February 2017, the pair had a disagreement at the beach where she tried to leave but he grabbed her by the throat. She broke free and ran to a friend’s place but he tracked her down and punched her in the face, knocking her out.

Following the February assault the man was served a domestic violence order.

The judge noted there had been an earlier domestic violence order issued for which the man was the victim, but said his behaviour in the four occasions outlined in court was “cowardly, just awful violence, controlling, gratuitous aggression.”

The man was given a threeyear head sentence and parole was granted yesterday.

The 454 days he had already spent in custody were deemed time already served.

A protection order was put in place for the next five years.