Lockyer Valley dad sentenced for domestic violence against wife and son

A Lockyer Valley dad forced his children to watch as he brutally beat their mother and held a knife to her neck — before turning on his own son.

A Lockyer Valley dad forced his children to watch as he brutally beat their mother, holding a knife to her neck at one stage, before he violently turned on his own son.

A court heard how a woman “lives in absolute fear” of her husband being released from jail after he forced their children to watch as he brutally choked her.

Her husband is due to be released in little more than a month’s time.

The man, who is in his 40s and cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to domestic violence charges including one count each of choking, suffocation, and unlawful use of a motor vehicle, along with two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm.

He also pleaded guilty to two counts of contravening a domestic violence order and one of contravening a police protection notice.

“I ask for your lenience and forgiveness,” the man told the court, via interpreter, at his Ipswich District Court sentence on April 5.

Crown prosecutor Amy Stannard told the court the man had been separated from his wife at the time of the offending.

She said the man had turned up his wife’s door without warning and threatened to damage property if she didn’t let him inside.

The court heard he then gathered their children to the bedroom and “made them sit and watch” as he assaulted their mother.

Ms Stannard said the assault was “protracted” and “brutal,” and that the man had held a knife to his wife’s throat at one stage.

The court heard he had also assaulted his son by throwing a box of mangoes at him.

Ms Stannard said the man had been on bail at the time for breaching a domestic violence order, and that he persisted after the assault by trying to contact his wife from prison on one occasion.

“The impact of this upon [the victim] has been profound,” Ms Stannard said.

“The complainant instructs me she lives in absolute fear of the defendant being released.”

Defence barrister Steve Kissick said his client’s time in custody had been more difficult for him than most because he spoke limited English and had a medical condition.

He said although his client had attempted to contact his wife from prison, he had not made any further attempts in the last year.

Mr Kissick also noted his client’s visa status was unknown, and that he was now at risk of deportation.

The court heard the man had come to Australia as a refugee and was now considered “stateless”.

He was in tears in court as Mr Kissick recounted how his brother had been killed by the military in his home country.

Ms Stannard said the man would not be deported to his own country, as it remained unsafe for him, but said he could still be deported to another country as a result of his offending.

“Although deportation is a possibility, it is not a certainty,” she explained.

“The information provided is that they are not taking him into immigration detention upon his release and his deportation is unlikely.”

Judge Horneman-Wren said the man’s visa status would be a matter for immigration authorities at a later stage.

He told the man: “The fact that you brought children in to watch their mother be assaulted and that you continued to assault her when even they were screaming in fear of their mother’s life is disgraceful”.

“The community finds domestic violence abhorrent … All men who might commit violent offences against their partners need to be deterred from doing so.”

Judge Horneman-Wren sentenced the man to four years imprisonment, to be suspended for five years after he had served 16 months in custody.

As the man had already served 445 days of his sentence in presentence custody, he will be released on May 14 this year.

He will remain prohibited from contacting his wife or children at that time.