Stephen James Templeton pleads guilty to choking

A judge has blasted a Mackay father for the “most gross abuse of trust” after he choked his long-term partner during an argument. Find out what happened.

A judge has blasted a Mackay father for the “most gross abuse of trust” after he choked his long-term partner during an argument.

Stephen James Templeton had gone over to his partner’s home on the evening of May 11, 2021 looking for his golf clubs following a breakdown of their 21-year relationship.

Mackay District Court heard he behaved like a pest turning on the lights while she was trying to sleep and told her “in not so polite terms” to turn them off herself.

The court also heard the pair began to argue over a holiday she had planned with their kids and he accused her of seeing another man.

The court heard he slapped her while she was in bed before the pair walked into the hallway where he pushed her against the wall and “used his forearm to apply pressure to her throat … or chest”.

The woman was unable to breathe for a few seconds but she was able to talk him into leaving the home. Police were called.

Templeton, 48, pleaded guilty to choking at Mount Pleasant. The court heard he spent 275 days in jail on remand.

His barrister Alastair McDougall argued his client’s conduct was at the lower end for choking.

“Well it might be at the lower end but he still pinned her against the wall with his forearm … it is serious offending,” Judge Jennifer Rosengren said.

The court heard the woman had written a support letter to the court for Templeton in which she said he had lost his way after his father died in 2000 and had issues with drugs including steroids and meth that made him “unpredictable, violent and controlling when using them”.

“This is a serious example of the infliction of violence against anybody but it is made all the worse by the fact it occurred in the context of your long term partner and the mother of your children,” Judge Rosengren said.

“She was in her own home. She had an absolute right to expect to feel safe.

“It is the most gross abuse of trust that somebody places in you to then assault her in the way that you did.

“I hope you are gaining some insight into how drugs such as these destroy lives.”

Templeton was jailed for two years with immediate parole. The 275 days was declared as time already served.