A former Moruya man who repeatedly assaulted his then girlfriend in her car was jailed for a year when he appeared in Batemans Bay Local Court last Thursday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The offender pleaded not guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and intimidation for fear of physical harm, but was found guilty and given a 16-month sentence with a 12-month non-parole period.
Police facts state that the offender, who has a lengthy criminal history, was driving his then girlfriend from Moruya to Batemans Bay in her car at 2pm on Friday October 25 last year when an argument began about money. She flicked the back of her hand to his mouth before they stopped at Batehaven. The offender grabbed the victim’s wallet and started running, before returning to the car to spit on her and then run away again.
The victim got out of the car to yell at the offender, so he charged back at her, grabbed her and threw her back into the car, and then got back in himself and drove towards Caseys Beach on Beach Road.
He pushed her head down and said “do you want me to wreck your car?” before running over three plastic guide posts.
They kept going until stopping at a driveway at Sunshine Bay, where he let go of her but the argument continued.
She told him to get out of the car but he continued to yell at her. She slapped his face and he grabbed her by the hair and slammed her head into the dashboard. They then drove towards Moruya on Beach Road and George Bass Drive, and when they went past the intersection with Tomakin Road, he grabbed her wrist and used her own hand to hit her three times. She kicked him in the leg, and he punched her in the mouth and yelled at her to “clean herself up,” before trying to clean her injuries with a jumper and bottle of water.
When they got to Moruya they stopped at a park and the victim got out of the car, ran and locked herself in a toilet.
After convincing her to get out of the toilet and back into the car, he said he would “take her out to the bush and burn the car” which she took as a direct threat to her safety.
She then went to the offender’s uncle’s place in Moruya before driving herself to Batemans Bay Police Station, where she provided a statement and photographs were taken of her, which led to the offender’s arrest. He has a lengthy criminal history including periods of imprisonment.