Mine manager Mark Paul Boulton choked wife during argument over mobile phone

A Central Queensland mine worker inflicted a harrowing attack on his wife, at one point placing his knees on her neck and rib cage, and squeezing her throat despite her begging him for mercy.

Mark Paul Boulton, 50, pleaded guilty on January 31 in Rockhampton District Court to one count of choking and one of breaching a domestic violence order.

A mine manager plans to move interstate after his release from jail after he was convicted for choking his estranged wife during a heated argument where he called her “a liar, a thief and a gold digger”.

Mark Paul Boulton, 50, pleaded guilty on January 31 in Rockhampton District Court to one count of choking and one of breaching a domestic violence order.

Judge Jeff Clarke said Boulton and his wife got into an argument in their Gracemere home on November 28, 2021, over her mobile phone.

“You were demanding her phone,” he said.

“You told her it was a privilege for her to have a phone and that she’d done nothing to deserve it.”

The argument continued with the woman locking herself in the ensuite at one stage and Boulton pushing her into another bedroom at another stage, continually pushing her when she tried to get up and leave.

A family member audio recorded part of the protracted argument.

Judge Clarke said Boulton called the woman “a liar, a thief and a gold digger” and accused her of ruining their marriage.

Boulton placed his knee on the woman’s right rib cage and another on the side of her neck at one stage when she was on the floor.

She threw his son’s Bluetooth speaker out and threatened to smash Boulton’s banjo.

The argument moved outside with Boulton grabbing the woman’s arm.

“Despite her begging you to stop, you placed your hands around her neck while she was pinned against the external wall of the house and squeezed for about 30 seconds so that she could barely breathe,” Judge Clarke said.

She did not lose consciousness, the court was told.

Defence barrister Maree Willey said the relationship between Boulton and the woman was over but they were currently still married.

She said the South Australian-born and raised mining manager planned to relocate back home with his son to live near his sister, but had a place to live and job lined up in the Rockhampton region upon his release from jail and until he could organise the interstate relocation.

Ms Willey said Boulton has four children from two long-term relationships - a 16-year long defacto relationship, and his previous 11-year marriage.

She said the domestic violence order in this relationship was the first he had ever had.

Judge Clarke sentenced Boulton to three years’ jail with immediate parole release, declaring 429 days presentence custody as time already served.