Dubbo man handed a conviction after assaulting partner after argument arose about putting child to bed

The 30-year-old man, we have not named to protect the identity of the victim, was handed a conviction by Magistrate Theresa Hamilton who told him the mother of their young children would also be facing extreme pressure.

According to court documents the man and the woman had been in a domestic relationship for nine years and shared three young children, including a one-month-old baby.

The pair were at home when the man began drinking about eight VB stubbies around 12pm on March 11 this year.

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About 7.30pm later that night the man was using his phone in his son's room, when the woman came in and got angry he was not playing a video on his phone for their son.

The woman took the phone off him when the man grabbed her arm and squeezed it tightly until she let it go.

The woman went to her bedroom and made a call to her mother to vent about the situation.

Her partner walked back in and got angry she was speaking with her mother about their relationship, and took the phone out of her hand, ended the call and threw it on the ground.

"If you call your mother again, I'll break your phone. You don't see me calling my mum every time we have a problem," he said to her.

The woman got up from the bed when the man grabbed her by the arm and pushed her causing her to fall. Their four-year-old son walked in to give his mum a hug when the man picked him up and went out to the shed of the property.

"Don't worry about mum she's just being a spastic. Leave her alone, let her be," the man told his son.

The woman followed as the child was screaming out asking for his mum. She entered the shed and tried taking the boy from her partner, when the man pushed her in the arms.

The woman stumbled back into the frame of the shed door before she sat down in the doorway.

The child was still screaming for his mother when the man threw him into the woman's lap saying "f--k both of you, you can have her if you want her".

The woman went back to the bedroom upset and called triple-0.

During this the man left the property as the woman's mother arrived concerned about the situation after their previous call was disconnected.

Police arrived about 9pm and spoke to the woman. When the man returned home he was arrested and taken to Dubbo Police Station.

In Dubbo Local Court last Wednesday, the man pleaded guilty to two counts of domestic common assault, and one count of threaten to destroy or damage another persons property.

Defence lawyer Corey Suckling said his client was facing work stress as an excavator operator, working 14-hour shifts and driving back to and from Dubbo, when the argument arose.

Mr Suckling said it was a spontaneous assault and empty threat made when he was trying to grab the phone off the woman.

He said there was no complaint of injury or ongoing pain as a result of the assault.

The court heard an AVO had been in place preventing the man seeing his children, which Mr Suckling said had been "the most difficult period in his life" for his client.

Mr Suckling said his client was aware they were "significantly inappropriate matters", but asked the court to take into account his client had no criminal history, and believed the matter could be dealt with a good behaviour bond without a conviction.

However, Magistrate Hamilton said the assault was concerning was it was in the presence of a young child, and found the incident was ongoing and too serious and to not impose a conviction.

She said while she understood his employment circumstances and working long hours, she reinforced the stress also faced by the mother of their children.

"I can assume being a mother to three young children, especially a one month old baby is considerably stressful and there's no time off for that responsibility," she said.

The man was convicted and sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order.