Man pleads not guilty to choking, assault against mum and son in Mackay region

A woman has told a jury how she struggled for air and ‘couldn’t feel my feet on the ground’ after her then-partner allegedly held her by her throat against a wall. TRIGGER WARNING

The man, in his 40s and who cannot be named for legal reasons, has pleaded not guilty in Mackay District Court to choking and assault charges.

A woman has claimed she was terrified, struggling for air and “couldn’t feel my feet on the ground” after her then-partner allegedly picked her up by her throat and pushed her against a wall of their home.

A court heard the couple had been in a “toxic” relationship for about a year that involved cross domestic violence orders when the alleged attack occurred at their Mackay region home in 2022.

The woman told a Mackay District Court jury she saw her former partner repeatedly assault her then 16-year-old son including punching him to the head and kneeing him in the face.

“He was bleeding from his eye socket,” she said.

The court heard he suffered a minor fractured eye socket from the alleged assault.

The man, in his 40s and who cannot be named for legal reasons, has pleaded not guilty to choking and assault charges.

The court heard the alleged assault started after the man had returned home from work and spotted a used grinder in the kitchen.

“That angered him … fair enough, he started going off,” Crown prosecutor Monique Sheppard said in her opening statement to the jury.

The court heard he allegedly started yelling at the woman about her son smoking marijuana and told her to get out of the house.

“He was in her face … it became physical,” Ms Sheppard said.

The woman, a mum of four in her 40s who was the first of five witnesses to be called, described how he “picked me up by my throat and put me against that wall”.

She said she felt “extremely scared” and was struggling for air.

“I couldn’t feel my feet on the ground,” she said.

When Ms Sheppard questioned what the woman meant when she said she was struggling for air she clarified that she could breathe but her breathing was restricted.

The woman said she felt “defeated … I didn’t want to continue arguing anymore. I was just laying on the floor”.

It was at this point when she said her teen son stepped over her and the boy and her former partner had walked towards the bedroom. When she got up and walked towards them she told the court “I could see (them) scuffling on the floor” and that her former partner threw two punches – the first missed and the second connected.

She also said she saw her son get “kneed in the face”.
“He was bleeding from his eye ball,” she said, adding she did not see any injuries to her former partner.
The court heard it was alleged the man repeatedly assaulted the 16 year old including after he had fallen to the floor, however Ms Sheppard said in an interview with police he denied there were repeated blows and told officers there was a single strike.

He also denied choking the woman and said “his hand may have accidentally slipped up at some point but there was no application of force to the neck such that breathing was restricted”, the court heard.

Defence barrister Scott McLennan, for the man, questioned the woman if her relationship had ended two weeks before this incident and she said no.

Under his questioning she admitted she was an alcoholic but denied she was violent when she drank and also denied her son was an alcoholic or violent when he drank.

The court heard she conceded her drinking had caused tension in the relationship but said the man used to give her money for alcohol and agreed it was before he was aware she had an issue.

The woman was asked about a time when the domestic violence order against her had been varied to include her former partner’s mother and she denied knowing about the change.

Mr McLennan also asked if she had been threatening the man and his mother and threatened to “slit both of their throats”, to which she said no.
The trial continues.