Rhyce Simon Hart in court for threatening tenant with a knife

A convicted abuser and father of three has been sentenced again in Bundaberg — this time for wielding a knife in front of a female tenant in a rental dispute turned violent.  

A Bundaberg garage door installer sentenced in February for subjecting his partner to a decade of torturous abuse and control was back in court this week for threatening another woman with a knife.

Bundaberg Magistrates Court heard Rhyce Simon Hart, 32, went to a property he was renting to a woman on Boxing Day, 2022, where an argument broke out over rent she allegedly owed him.

He had taken his then partner with him, it heard.

Magistrate John McInnes said the conversation escalated into an argument and Hart “started waving a knife around” at the woman.

Bundaberg Magistrates Court heard that on Boxing Day 2022, Rhyce Simon Hart, 32, went to a property he was renting to a woman, where an argument broke out over rent she allegedly owed him.

Hart’s lawyer said he was the breadwinner at the time and was stressed over his family’s financial situation which had intensified over Christmas.

Mr McInnes said despite the financial stressors in Hart’s life, the use of violent threats to collect rent was serious and “way over the top”.

Hart was convicted of going armed as to cause harm and sentenced to three months in jail, to be served concurrently with his other sentences.

The court heard the Boxing Day incident occurred weeks before Hart began a campaign of abuse against his partner in January, 2023.

Over a series of dates in January and March, the 32-year-old went on a violent tirade against his then partner which resulted in him being charged and later convicted of strangulation, threatening violence, common assault and two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm.

On February 18, 2025, he was sentenced to two years in jail for the strangulation charge and made eligible for parole from February 18, 2025, owing to 372 days declared as time served in pre-sentence custody.

When he was arrested on the domestic violence charges, Hart was out on bail for the charge of going armed as to cause harm.

Hart’s parole date was set to March 11, 2025.