A 40-year-old Dubbo man who knocked a woman to the ground and kicked her in the ribs while she lay defenceless on the ground will be eligible for parole on October 30.
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Richard John James Egan, of Lunar Avenue, pleaded guilty to assaulting the woman at her home — while he was out on bail for other offences.
Police said after the pair started arguing on August 31 last year, Egan followed the woman into a hallway where he verbally abused her, threatened to slit her throat and then "struck her with his fists in the ribs".
While on the ground he kicked the woman in the ribs and upper leg.
After the attack the woman begged a witness to call police, who later arrived and charged Egan with common assault and intimidating the woman with the intent of causing physical or mental harm.
An apprehended domestic violence order was put in place but less than 24 hours after the attack, Egan breached it.
Egan, who the court heard became hooked on heroin when he was 13 and was subject to violence as a child, returned to the woman's home on September 1 and started yelling and banging on the front door.
"She lay rigid in her bed as she knew the voice belonged to the offender," police said.
Moments later Egan entered the woman's bedroom and told her to "c'mon, get up, come out here".
Police said he stormed around the house and claimed "this is my house, I have every right to be here".
While in the house, Egan took a kitchen knife, held it to his throat and told the woman "I might as well slit my throat".
Egan, who admitted to being under the influence of benzodiazepines, eventually fell asleep after several hours and the woman then sought police assistance.
After the second incident, police charged Egan with breaching the violence order and another count intimidating with the intent of causing harm.
Egan, who has been in custody since the second attack, appeared in Dubbo Local Court on Thursday via audiovisual link from Bathurst Correctional Centre.
"You've got an extremely long history of domestic violence matters," Magistrate Gary Wilson told Egan.
Before sentencing Egan to a total of 58 months — slightly less than five years — in prison for each of the offences, Mr Wilson said Egan's guilty pleas entitled him to a 25 per cent penalty reduction for each offence he was convicted of.
With the sentence backdated to the time Egan first entered custody and a non-parole period of 14 months, he will be eligible for parole on October 30.
A sentencing assessment report provided to the court said there is a medium to high risk Egan could offend again.
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