Joel Mark Wayne pleads guilty to domestic violence assault on former girlfriend

A violent Queensland criminal’s sickening spree, which included an attack where a woman’s tooth was knocked out, has sparked a warning from a judge.

Woman basher Joel Mark Wayne was jailed for a brutal attack on his then girlfriend, while on parole for a horror assault on a former girlfriend.

A convicted violent woman basher who knocked out his former girlfriend’s tooth in a vile drunken attack has been labelled a “danger to women”.

Joel Mark Wayne was on parole over a horror domestic violence attack on a different girlfriend that involved a knife and a broom, when he lashed out against another woman two years later.

His sentence comes as Queensland Police launches new domestic violence technology to support frontline officers, who responded to more than 120,000 DV incidents across 2020-21.

Woman basher Joel Mark Wayne was jailed for a brutal attack on his then girlfriend, while on parole for a horror assault on a former girlfriend.

On February 11, 2019 both had been drunk when a heated argument escalated into violence.

She had been hiding in another unit within the Airlie Beach complex where they lived and had fallen asleep when the 25 year old came banging on the door, before dragging her back to their home by her hair and throat.

“He continued to hold her by her neck and pull her hair while doing so,” Crown prosecutor Julie Aylward said.

“She kept trying to protect herself … by curling up in a ball and putting her arms over her head.

“He lifted her off the ground by the throat and hair while she was struggling and he shoved her.”

The 25 year old grabbed his former girlfriend by her hair and throat and dragged her to her shared home.

The court heard her face hit the kitchen bench and she suffered a missing bottom tooth – it was noted she had longstanding gum disease at the time. There were two more attacks in May and June that year while they were living at Jubilee Pocket and Cannonvale respectively.

“It’s appalling behaviour,” Ms Aylward said.

Wayne, a former Proserpine High School student, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm and four counts of common assault.

The court heard he had been jailed for three years over a vile attack on a different girlfriend in 2017.

Ms Aylward said the worst involved Wayne having a knife and that “he hit her with a broom”, he also punched her in the stomach.

Wayne was also jailed for bashing another girlfriend about two years before this attack.

“I think he’s a danger to women,” Judge Julie Dick said, adding Wayne did not have “much perception” in to his actions.

“He doesn’t seem to think that what he did was actually physical abuse, he seems to think it’s just verbal.”

Defence barrister Scott McLennan said his client had already spent seven months in jail – the court heard this was for unrelated charges yet to be finalised.

The court heard Wayne’s latest girlfriend had written a letter of support and he had a full-time job.

Mr McLennan said the domestic violence had occurred when he and his then-partner were both meth users in a toxic relationship.

He was jailed for 23 months to be suspended after four months for an operational period of 2.5 years. Convictions were recorded.

QPS has launched a new mobile interface enabling frontline police officers to easily access relationship information when responding to domestic violence incidents.

Superintendent David Johnson said the DV Search technology provided frontline officers with details on family relationship, history, orders and conditions relating to a DFV incident.

“The functionality means that at the point of crisis, police can clearly see and interpret pertinent information on an individual’s domestic and family violence relationships, which simplified and allowed more informed decisions than occurrence-based records,” he said.