Brendan Peter Fowler pleads guilty to choking pregnant partner

A father has been warned he is teaching his own children violence after he choked his heavily pregnant partner during an argument.

A Mackay region father has been warned he is teaching his own children violence after he choked his heavily pregnant partner during an argument and asking her “is this what you want?”.

He then lied to police claiming the victim had caused the marks to her neck herself.

Brendan Peter Fowler said the past seven-and-a-half months spent in custody on remand had been a “massive wake-up call”.

Mackay District Court heard the vile offence occurred during an argument about disciplining their son.

The victim said she was going to run errands and Fowler told her “if you take my money I’ll call the cops”.

The court heard heated words turned to violence when Fowler pushed her down and wrapped his hands around her throat asking her “is that what you want?”, causing her to briefly lose consciousness.

The 37 year old pleaded guilty to choking on July 16, 2021 at Carmila. The court heard he was involved in domestic violence against four women including the victim.

Defence barrister Scott McLennan said the father of three began his relationship with the woman in 2017, adding the offending occurred against a background of a relationship in turmoil.

The family was under financial pressure, he had been out of work since 2019 and was a stay-at-home-dad while she held a job.

Mr McLennan said this incident followed another serious incident where the woman had allegedly thrown a coffee cup.

“My client clearly snapped on the day,” Mr McLennan said, adding his time in jail had “been a massive wake-up call for him”.

The court heard he initially lied to police telling officers the victim had caused the marks to her neck herself.

He has spent 328 days in custody on remand and it is his first time in jail.

Judge Vicki Loury said she accepted Fowler was ashamed and disgusted over his conduct and that he had since completed a domestic violence perpetrator course.

“It is said that choking is a predictor of escalating violence … in a relationship and indeed it is a predictor of homicide,” Judge Loury said, adding Fowler was teaching his own children “to act as you do”.

Fowler was jailed for three years with parole released on June 15, 2022. A conviction was recorded.