Paul Sleep guilty of aggravated assault against the mother of his children

A domestic abuser who evaded authorities for two years is behind bars after police discovered the wanted man during a Tuesday night pub trip.

The law has caught up with a wanted man who assaulted the mother of his children after he fled from a Mount Gambier pub overnight.

After evading police for two years, Paul Sleep appeared at the Mount Gambier Magistrates Court via video link from police cells on Wednesday.

The police prosecutor said warrants for Sleep’s arrest were issued in 2019.

“He was located last night at the Park Hotel,” he said.

“He ran from police and got caught nearby.

“He has a rather extensive record.”

Paul Sleep was arrested on Tuesday night when police did a walk through of the Park Hotel Mount Gambier. Picture: Google Maps

Sleep had previously pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, property damage, reckless driving and driving disqualified and entered a guilty plea to possession of a prescription drug on April 21, 2019 at Yahl.

Sleep made his bid for bail with defence lawyer Clare Smyth saying he was a heavy drug user at the time of the offending and had moved interstate to overcome his addiction, returning to Mount Gambier two months ago.

“His daughter sadly passed away due to medical negligence in 2017, she was only three days old,” Ms Smyth said.

“He then turned to drugs to cope with grief and this led him to committing the offences that are before you.

“He took himself away from the South-East in 2019 to try and take himself off drugs and rid himself of bad influences.”

Magistrate Maria Panagiotidis ordered bail inquiry and home detention reports.

“That doesn’t explain why he’s been away for two years and just ignored all these charges,” Magistrate Panagiotidis said.

“I’m not inclined to grant bail unless it is home detention.”

Sleep’s bail application will continue next week with submissions to be heard in September.