Brutal assault lands a family member in jail

The Dubbo man pleaded guilty to one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and one count of larceny. He also consented to an apprehended domestic violence order regarding the victim which will be in place for three years.

"The injuries you inflicted on your sister, at her home... this is a serious example of domestic violence..." magistrate Gary Wilson said.

"These acts of violence cannot be tolerated. This is unforgivable."

The offender has not been named to protect the identity of the victim.

About 6.10pm on Wednesday, November 9 last year, the man was in his sister's living room with her, having a discussion about moving out.

Police said the discussion turned into a verbal argument when the victim expressed she wanted the man out of the house. The man became enraged and punched her in the face five times with a closed fist. The victim collapsed to the floor.

The court was told she crawled on her hands and knees through the kitchen to the laundry, and into the backyard. She managed to get through a side gate to the front yard and scream for help. During this time, the attacker fled the scene.

The assault left the victim with a large laceration above her left eye, bruising and swelling to the left side of her face and lips, as well as a split bottom lip.

Police got a call from her neighbours who had heard her screaming for help. An ambulance arrived and paramedics briefly treated the victim, while police took photos of the scene and gathered evidence before she was taken to Dubbo hospital.

The area around the victim's house was searched, but police could not locate the escaped assailant. After multiple attempts officers sought an arrest warrant to nab the man.

Prior to this, on October 25, the man had stolen $272 worth of property from the BWS bottle shop at Delroy Park.

About 5.17pm that day, CCTV footage revealed the man walked into the store and picked up two bottles of Jack Daniels and a bottle of Jim Beam. He then left without paying for the items as the bottle shop employees yelled out to him to stop. Police were notified about the incident.

On November 29 when the man was arrested for another matter, officers interviewed him about the stealing, which he admitted to.

The man, held in custody since November 30, appeared in Dubbo Local Court on February 8 via audio-visual link.

In court, the police prosecutor Amy Jenner presented the magistrate with a laptop which played a police video of the injuries inflicted on the victim by her brother.

"It is a confronting scene to be viewing," she said.

Police said the man had an extensive criminal history with 43 prior charges relating to numerous occasions of assault, robbery, shoplifting and larceny related offences.

Defence solicitor Zoe Huijer also said her client's criminal history did not help his case and mentioned his drinking habits and homelessness at the time of the offending.

"He was drinking a significant amount, two bottles of spirits a week. This is particularly relevant to the shoplifting," Ms Huijer said.

While Sergeant Jenner said the offender needed to be sentenced to a full-time custodial sentence, the defence asked if the sentence could be backdated to when he was taken into custody.

"You want me to give him credit for time spent in custody while he revoked his parole?" Mr Wilson asked.

"That is my submission, your Honour," Ms Huijer said.

"Good luck with that,' Mr Wilson said.

The magistrate read out the facts of the incident to the offender on the screen and called out his unforgivable and intolerable actions.

"If you don't cease this type of behaviour you will continue to get imprisoned for these kinds of offences.You have spent numerous terms of imprisonment and nothing seems to deter you," Mr Wilson said.

Noting the many other occasions on which the man had crossed the threshold for imprisonment, for both matters, the magistrate sentenced him to an aggregate term of imprisonment of 14 months.

"The term does not warrant any backdating whatsoever," Mr Wilson said. "I do make a significant finding with relation to special circumstances and have varied the ratio between parole and non-parole [period]."

The 32-year-old's fixed term of imprisonment is nine months starting March 1, making him eligible for parole on November 30 2023.

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