Dudley Matthew Waterton sentenced for assault occasioning bodily harm in Hervey Bay
A Hervey Bay man already had a history of abusing his ex-partner when he peppered her with messages before turning up and punching her multiple times at her house.
Police & Courts
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A Hervey Bay man who left his ex-partner with a bloody nose after punching her multiple times has been sentenced.
Dudley Matthew Waterton, 43, appeared via videolink in the Hervey Bay Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm.
On January 20, 2025, he entered his ex-partner’s home while she was at the hospital.
When the partner got home, she found him in the garden setting up a pool for their children.
He then asked her for money and whether he could stay the night and both requests were declined.
On January 24, text messages spanning 12 hours were sent to his ex, saying things like “goodbye”, “I am done” along with a photo of Waterton with a needle in his arm.
At about 10:30am on the same date, he went back to her home and met her in the bathroom, where he verbally attacked and stood over her, the court was told.
Waterton then hit her with a closed fist to the left side of her forehead, before punching her in the nose.
The attack left the woman with visible blood dripping from her nose.
Waterton had a history of abusing his ex-partner, after he was sentenced on March 8, 2024, for common assault.
He also appeared via videolink for this matter, after he kicked the back of her leg during an altercation at Stockland Hervey Bay.
Magistrate Trinity McGarvie acknowledged Waterton’s troubled history, stating he had a “really difficult” childhood, where he experienced “trauma and disadvantage” from a young age.
His lawyer, Clem van der Weegan, said drugs and alcohol had been used as a coping mechanism for the trauma he had suffered in his childhood, but was actively looking to enter a rehabilitation clinic upon his release.
He was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment, with 80 days to be declared as time served, and a parole eligibility date set at July 24, 2025.
Convictions were recorded.
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