Timothy Russel jailed for violent attack on partner choking her and leaving her with facial fractures in Dubbo motel

Timothy Russell, 26, has been jailed after he left the woman with facial fractures following an unprovoked attack while staying at the Across Country Motor Inn on Whylandra Street on February 23 this year.

The woman - who was six weeks pregnant at the time of the incident - was asleep in the bed when Russell walked over and pulled the blankets off her, ordering her to leave about 7pm that night.

After Russell took the woman's phone she jumped out of bed and attempted to get it back to call a family member.

The pair began to wrestle over the phone when Russell grabbed onto the woman's gold chain necklace, pulled it and threw it on the ground.

Russell threw the woman against the lounge and then onto the floor. While on the floor Russell placed his hands around the woman's neck using his body weight to hold her down.

The woman attempted to yell for help, however her airway was restricted and she eventually lost consciousness for a few seconds.

After a short struggle the woman was able to free herself from Russell's grip however he managed to throw her onto the bed and again hold her down with his body. He held the woman's head and punched her with a closed fist to the face, forehead and nose a number of times.

The woman's nose began bleeding. Russell ran away and fled in a vehicle.

The woman came out of the room and asked for help from the motel manager who contacted police.

As a result of the attack, the woman felt immediate pain to her back, chest, shoulders, teeth, nose and forehead, which she was treated for by paramedics before being taken to Dubbo hospital, court documents stated. She was later diagnosed with a mild nasal bone and septal fracture.

The next morning police attended a unit on Bishop Street in Dubbo to try and find Russell. While there was no answer at the door police busted him in the upstairs shower.

Appearing via audio-visual link from Goulburn Correctional Centre, Russell pleaded guilty to domestic violence related assault occasioning actual bodily harm and damaging property.

Russell's defence lawyer explained his client had recently moved to Dubbo from Sydney to be closer to the woman's family.

However at the time of the offence, his lawyer said Russell had become disconnected with his own family and mental health support, and had struggled with with substance abuse issues since the age of 18.

Since entering custody in February, the court heard Russell had engaged with medical support and was now back on medication for his schizophrenia, which Russell said is helping him "see clearly for the first time".

Russell's lawyer also noted his client's period in custody had been onerous given he had spent 78 days in lockdown from either having COVID or fellow inmates catching the virus.

"He gets out of a cell once a week," Russell's lawyer said.

However Magistrate Greg Grogin said domestic violence was "just not on".

"There is absolutely no reason, no excuse, and no justification for someone to be assaulted in the manner she was," he said.

"There is far too much [domestic violence] in every court across NSW. This court will not allow domestic violence to be normalised.

"People have a right to feel safe wherever they are, people have a right to feel safe particularly with their partners.

"The community needs to be protected from people who think they can resort to violence."

Mr Grogin said Russell wasn't supported by his criminal history, and found it clear he needed to be rehabilitated. However he said when Russell had opportunities in the past he hadn't put in "sufficient effort" in doing so.

Russell was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 16 months, backdated to February. He was also convicted and placed on a community corrections order for 18 months for damaging the woman's necklace.