William Karrasch: Ipswich man released on parole after vicious, repeated assaults of woman

A woman has been left traumatised after her abuser dragged her around the house by her hair, strangled her, and carved her name into his stomach, a court has heard.

A young Ipswich dad who viciously beat a woman, strangled her, and dragged her through a house by her hair before carving her name into his stomach to prove his “loyalty” to her has been sentenced for his heinous crimes.

William Karrasch, 24, from Karalee appeared in Ipswich District Court on Friday February 18, where he pleaded guilty to 11 charges including three counts of assault occasioning bodily harm, one count of strangulation, and one count of serious assault of a police officer.

Crown prosecutor Amy Stannard told the court the offending occurred in three bouts: the first on November 16, 2020, the second on April 21 last year, and the third on April 24 last year.

She said that on November 16, 2020, a woman was driving along the Warrego Highway when Karrasch, a passenger in the car, grabbed her neck, pushed her into the back of the chair, and dug his nails into her skin.

Some five months later on April 21, Karrasch struck the same woman in the head with a closed fist and pushed her into a bed frame with force during an argument.

On April 24, he became enraged again after the woman woke him from his sleep. He snatched a phone from her grip and hit her in the head with it.

Karrasch grabbed the woman by her hair, dragged her across the room into the bathroom, screamed in her face and repeatedly forced her head into a wall.

Ms Stannard said the woman felt nauseous and went to the kitchen.

Once again, Karrasch grabbed her by her hair and dragged her back into the bedroom. He stood over her, put both of his hands around her neck, and squeezed tightly.

“She was unable to breathe for a time,” Ms Stannard said.

“When the defendant released his grip, she was gasping for air and described her (feeling) her body going limp.”

She rolled off the bed onto the floor and Karrasch kicked her repeatedly. She sustained bruising to her ribcage.

After struggling to get up, the woman ran to the loungeroom and attempted to leave the house, but Karrasch pursued her and stood between her and the door.

Ms Stannard said he then grabbed a 20cm-long knife, pushed the woman onto the couch, and stabbed the couch beside where she was sitting.

Later that same day, Karrasch dragged the woman into the kitchen and pushed her head through the window, glass shattering everywhere.

“The (woman) fell to the ground. She felt pain,” Ms Stannard said.

“Her body, she described, felt lifeless.”

The court heard Karrasch then attempted to carve the woman’s name into his stomach with the knife to prove his “loyalty” to her.

Ms Stannard said the woman was able to escape when Karrasch ran into a sliding-glass door.

She contacted emergency services personnel who found her in a nearby shopping centre and Karrasch at the home about 1.30am on April 25.

The woman was bruised and bleeding “profusely” from her head, while Karrasch had blood all over his face.

Police discovered a 250ml bottle of testosterone, 263.7g of cannabis, and cannabis cookies at the house.

Karrasch was transported to hospital for a mental health assessment and then to a watch-house, where he “lashed out” and assaulted a police officer.

The court heard the 24-year-old had been in custody since his arrest on April 25 last year, for a period of 299 days or nine months and three weeks.

Karrasch’s barrister Stephen Kissick said his client had been engaging in “serious” cannabis, valium and Xanax use at the time offending but had steered clear of drugs since being in remand.

Mr Kissick said Karrasch also suffered from mental ill health and had been seeing a psychologist before – and between – offending.

Judge Alexander Horneman-Wren said the physical effects of Karrasch’s offending on the woman were “terribly apparent” in photographs, and the emotional trauma she suffered would be long-lasting.

“She quite understandably thought you were going to kill her,” he told Karrasch.

“You gave every indication you were capable of doing that.”

Mr Horneman-Wren noted Karrasch’s mental health struggles and the fact that he had made several attempts to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital before April 24 last year, “sadly without success”.

He also took into consideration Karrasch’s complete lack of a violent history as well as his “timely” plea of guilty.

Mr Horneman-Wren sentenced the young man to three years’ imprisonment with immediate parole and declared the nearly 10 months he had spent in prison up until Thursday as time served.