Michael Raymond Gibbs pleads guilty to strangulation, assault occasioning bodily harm

A Bundaberg labourer who savagely attacked and threatened to kill his partner multiple times even after police intervened will spend more time behind bars despite claiming he’s been bashed in jail for his crimes.

Michael Raymond Gibbs appeared via video link in the Bundaberg District Court House.

A Bundaberg man has pleaded guilty to a “chilling” set of offences after he threatened to kill his partner several times and choked her even after police intervened.

Michael Raymond Gibbs pleaded guilty to multiple domestic violence relates offences including two counts of wilful damage, one count each of suffocation in a domestic setting, assault occasioning bodily harm, burglary, strangulation in a domestic setting, assault occasioning bodily harm while armed, common assault and contravening a police protection notice.

The court heard the labourer had been living with his short-term partner when he succumbed to an intense ice addition which resulted in a “bender” of abuse on his partner.

Crown Prosecutor Anika Fritz told the court Gibbs had arrived home to their shared unit on the evening of May 30, 2023 when the pair got into an argument.

“She sat on the edge of the bed and that’s when he ran over to her and jumped on top of her,” Ms Fritz said.

“She yelled at him to get off but then he pushed his hand on her mouth and yelled ‘shut up or I’ll kill you’.

“He pushed down on the complainant's mouth with his hand and he held her nose with his other hand, restricting her breathing.”

Ms Fritz told the court the woman tried to push him off when Gibbs bit the inside of her left arm, before smashing an electric heater and walking away, punching a hole in the wall.

Gibbs then threw shoes at the woman, hitting her, while she asked him to stop only for him to say, “I don’t care I should kill you, you s —t,” before the woman was able to escape the home.

The court heard Gibbs followed her, yelling out for her before finding her hiding behind a car where he threatened her life if she did not return to the unit with him.

The court heard an ice addiction had played a role in the offending.

The woman followed Gibbs before making another escape and calling the police.

The court heard Gibbs and the woman were taken to the Bundaberg Police Station, before the woman was taken to hospital for her injuries.

Gibbs was released from the watch-house early the following morning after being issued with a police protection notice which prevented him from seeing the woman again.

Despite the notice he returned the unit, breaking in through a window while she called the police in fear.

“He then grabbed her phone and threw it on the floor causing the screen to shatter,” Ms Fritz said.

“The complainant sat down on the bed and came up and grabbed her around the throat and pushed her down on the bed and squeezed her throat, she felt like she was going to pass out.”

“The defendant said, ‘I did nothing, you did it to yourself, you told them I beat you, you beat yourself,’ he attempted to bite her face, she pulled away, he repeatedly said he was going to kill her.”

The court heard Gibbs then left the room before returning with a baseball bat and threatened to “smash” her with it and when she put her hands up in self-defence he swung and hit her right hand.

“She screamed for help and he told her to ‘shut the f —k up’ and pressed the bat forcefully against her and that’s when she heard the police arriving,” Ms Fritz said.

Gibbs was taken into custody where he remained before appearing before the Bundaberg District Court on Wednesday, February 28, 2024.

Barrister Liam Dollar appeared for Gibbs and told the court his client had succumbed to an ice addiction after the loss of his young daughter with a previous partner, had gone on a “bender” and could not remember much of the offending.

Mr Dollar told the court Gibbs had a good work history and had made positive strides to shake his addiction while in custody, despite being assaulted after other prisoners discovered his charges.

Barrister Liam Dollar told the court his client had been assaulted in jail when cellmates discovered his charges.

Judge Leanne Clare dismissed this submission, questioning why his particular offending would lead to him being assaulted.

“I would think there are a lot of prisoners in custody for similar offending, domestic violence is rife in this town as is methamphetamine and the two seemed to be linked,” she said.

Gibbs submitted a letter of apology to the court and to his victim claiming the relationship had been “good at first” but a shared dependency on drugs had turned things sour.

“I have lived a nightmare for the last nine months, it has been very hard to live with myself,” he said.

In her sentencing submission Ms Clare called the man’s offending “chilling” and “deliberately cruel” but said he was “not a man without hope.”

“The offending is linked to your abuse of methamphetamine, you have had a problem with that drug for many years and it is a huge problem in this community,” she said.

The man was sentenced to a four-year head sentence of imprisonment for the strangulation and burglary charges, three years imprisonment for suffocation, two and a half years for armed assault, two years for common assault, 18 months for one count of wilful damage and 12 months for the second count of wilful damage.

Convictions were recorded on the remaining offences.

Gibbs will be eligible for parole on July 30, 2024, with 273 days of pre-sentence custody declared time served.

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