He tells her he will kill her, then he grabs the scissors

ROCKY woman's night turns to horror after she locks him out of his own home.

THE court was halfway through proceedings for sentencing of a man when the defence barrister decided his client technically wasn't guilty of a charge he had pleaded guilty to.

The client, who has a severe criminal history of assault occasioning bodily harm, was being sentenced in the Rockhampton District Court on March 31 when Defence Barrister Ross Lo Monaco threw the spanner into the works.

The man, who can't be named, was facing a charge of burglary by breaking, choking another person and assault occasioning bodily harm.

The 29-year-old was charged after an argument spiralled out of control.

The man left his residence, he went next door to drink for a few hours, and returned home to find he had been locked out of the house.

Crown Prosecutor Edward Fleetwood told the court the defendant banged on the victim's window and woke her up and she told him to leave.

"The defendant (then) told the complainant if she didn't open the door, he would kill her," he said.

Mr Fleetwood told the court the defendant then entered the house through an unlocked window and victim locked herself in a bedroom and stood against the door.

"However, the defendant barged through the door and grabbed her by the hair with his left hand," Mr Fleetwood said.

The court heard he punched her with a closed fist repeatedly on the cheeks and the back of the head and the ribs.

When she screamed for help, he put one of his hands over her neck, squeezed her throat, stopping her from being able to breath, and put his other hand over her mouth for a few minutes.

"The defendant got off the bed and told the complainant he was going to get a pair of scissors to stab her," Mr Fleetwood said.

When he left the room, the victim ran into a nearby bedroom where children had been sleeping.

The defendant went into the room, calling her names and attempted to drag her away.

"Police arrived and the defendant fled through the side door," Mr Fleetwood said.

After the prosecution finished presenting its case, Mr Lo Monaco raised technicalities around the issue of burglary by breaking.

He submitted that charge referred to someone breaking into the dwelling of another person, but the defendant was living at the residence at the time of the incident.

The sentencing proceeds were stopped and the matter was adjourned until May 8.

The court heard the defence team planned to lodge an application which would result in the plea of guilty being withdrawn and the charge be varied or offered a new charge.

"Once a plea is entered, it is difficult to stand it aside," Judge Michael Burnett said.

An application to withdraw a guilty plea requires evidence proving the initial plea would be a miscarriage of justice leading to a conviction and punishment for a crime the defendant did not commit.

Criminal history:

In 2005, the defendant kidnapped a four-month-old child and punched a woman. A witness intervened, grabbing the child from the defendant and told the victim to run. The victim fled, attempted to jump the back fence before the defendant grabbed her, threw her to the ground and kicked and stomped her body and head.

In 2008, the defendant was sentenced to 12-months prison time with immediate parole for punching a woman in left cheek, kicking her to the left thigh, punching the back of her head and grabbing her by her hair and throwing her down a flight of stairs.

In 2009, he was sentenced to a 30-month prison term for two charges of assault occasioning bodily harm. One charge from punching a sleeping woman in the head repeatedly and slamming her head to the floor as she tried to escape. The other charge for punching a man that was coming to the woman's rescue and breaking his nose.

In 2012, the defendant received an 18-month prison term for assault occasioning bodily harm while armed. The court heard the defendant was drunk when he threw two plastic chairs at a woman, causing a laceration to her shoulder and then he punched her back and rib cage.

In 2015, he picked up a woman and lifted her over a fence before dropping her on the concrete footpath before trying to dragging her away from a residence. He received three months imprisonment, wholly suspended for 18 months.

Originally published as He tells her he will kill her, then he grabs the scissors