A Ballarat magistrate has given a stern denouncement of a man's abusive behaviour, after he fronted court for hitting his partner in the face during an argument.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
"Not everyone who does what you have done goes on to murder their partner, but everyone who had murdered their partner starts off like this," the magistrate told the man.
It comes after six women in Australia were killed by their partners in the span of 10 days, a harrowing figure which has led some domestic violence activists to call for action.
The 26-year-old man appeared in court from custody to plead guilty to the assault charges, as well as additional theft charges.
The Courier has not named the man to protect the identity of the victim.
On August 27, the man and his partner were driving along Albert Street in Sebastopol, when the man became aggressive and started verbally abusing her.
When the man's aggression began to escalate he punched the woman with "extreme force" in the face.
After the attack, the man fled from the car, while the victim managed to park at ALDI Sebastopol where she was witnessed screaming in pain and with a significant amount of blood coming from her nose.
While paramedics assisted the woman, she continued to receive aggressive texts from her abuser, calling her numerous derogatory names including "f---ing dog".
At the time of Thursday's hearing, the man had spent 86 days in custody.
The court heard the man had previous convictions of domestic violence-related assault, but that the most recent offense was an "escalation" of offending.
Magistrate Ronald Saines said he would give the 26-year-old a combination sentence, consisting of jail time and a community corrections order.
Magistrate Saines said it was important to impress on the man the deplorable nature of his actions.
IN THE NEWS
"The one thing that is more important than anything else is for you to understand that this level of violence you have inflicted is the sort of thing that if repeated by you ever again, there will be no question of anything other than a non-parole period fixed," the magistrate said.
"This is to be utterly denounced.
"That is such an important message for you to think about - it is a high level problem in our community, and this is a terrible example of it."
Affected by this story? There is help available. You can phone the Ballarat Centre Against Sexual Assault, in Sebastopol, on 5320 3933, or free-call the crisis care line 24 hours on 1800 806 292.
Or phone Lifeline on 13 11 14, the Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380, or Relationships Australia on 1300 364 277.
Sign-up for The Courier's news alerts direct to your inbox. Select Breaking News Alerts in My Newsletters & Alerts in your account preference centre.
