Brendan Robert Rybarczyk, 30, choked his partner after an argument over his movements
A former panel beater who lost some of his hearing from an assault while in prison has faced court for choking his now former partner and damaging doors at her residence. Read what happened here.
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A former panel beater who lost some of his hearing from an assault while in prison has faced court for choking his now former partner and damaging doors at her residence.
Brendan Robert Rybarczyk, 30, pleaded guilty on June 10 in Rockhampton District Court to one count of choking, two of common assault, three of wilful damage and one breach of a domestic violence order.
Crown prosecutor Matthew Sutton said the choking occurred following an argument about Rybarczyk’s whereabouts that day.
He said the argument involved the couple pushing and shoving each other before it cooled down until a text message was sent to Rybarczyk’s phone by another woman.
Mr Sutton said the pair became involved in the argument again with Rybarczyk grabbing the victim by the throat and squeezing for about one minute.
Judge Jeff Clarke said the victim dropped to the ground after Rybarczyk released his grip on her throat and reported having felt like her eyes were going to pop out of her head and she had trouble breathing.
He said she went to the sink and vomited.
Mr Sutton said following the choking, Rybarczyk continued committing domestic violence acts, grabbing the victim by the throat again but not choking her.
He said Rybarczyk left the residence but returned a short time later for his phone which the victim had taken off him during their argument, damaging the back screen door and kicking the living room door.
He said Rybarczyk returned the next day about 9am, yelling and shouting, and ripped the back screen door from the door frame.
He said Rybarczyk again grabbed the victim by the throat, but did not choke her.
Mr Sutton said the victim asked Rybarczyk to leave and he did.
Defence barrister Julie Marsden said Rybarczyk had been in a relationship with the victim for five or six years and it was toxic due to issues with trust, infidelity, drugs and alcohol.
“It was an on again, off again type of relationship,” she said.
Ms Marsden said the pair had a two year old child together and Rybarczyk had been a stepfather to her other child from a different relationship.
“He stayed in the relationship for the children,” she said.
Ms Marsden said Rybarczyk had another child from a previous relationship where he was with that child’s mother for five or six years and there was no violence in that relationship.
She said Rybarczyk’s mother, sister, two nieces, brother-in-law and friends were in the back of the court in support of him.
Ms Marsden said his employer was aware of these court matters and still offered Rybarczyk employment upon his release from custody.
She said Rybarczyk started using marijuana when he was 18 and escalated to ice by the time he was 21, however, hadn’t used drugs since 2015 and had “wiped all those friendships”.
While Rybarczyk had a “considerable criminal history” as described by Judge Clarke, Ms Marsden pointed out there were no prior convictions for domestic violence.
Judge Clarke described these offences as “quite brazen”.
He sentenced Rybarczyk to 2.5 years prison, declared 237 days pre-sentence custody with immediate release on parole.
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