Tony Manusamoa Pauli in Rockhampton District Court for choking partner

A Queensland man who choked his partner also ran a knife against her face, telling her he wanted to make her ugly after accusing her of talking to other men.

Tony Manusamoa Pauli.

A woman feared she was going to die when her partner used his arm to pin her by the neck against a wall, choking her until she lost consciousness.

The District Court in Rockhampton heard Tony Manusamoa Pauli, 30, started a relationship with the victim in mid-December 2022 and the pair were only in a relationship for a short period of time.

Pauli met the victim through his work in Biloela at the meatworks.

The victim went with Pauli to Brisbane to meet his family and on Christmas Day 2022 he accused her of talking to other men and told her they wanted to go out with her because she was beautiful, the court heard.

Judge Jeff Clarke said Pauli ran a knife against her face, telling her he wanted to make her ugly.

Judge Clarke said a couple of weeks later on January 8 in Biloela the victim told Pauli she wanted to leave him and that he made a comment about her being in a coffin and threatened her with a butter knife and screwdriver, making stabbing motions towards her chest.

He said Pauli called the victim a “s—t” and a “w—e” on January 14 and grabbed her by the collar of her jumper and shoved her against a wall.

“You pressed your arm against her throat, pinning her against the wall and she couldn’t breathe,” Judge Clarke said.

“She thought she was going to die, her eyesight went dark.”

He said the victim eventually came free of Pauli’s grip and told him she wanted to leave.

Judge Clarke said Pauli choked her again, wrapping both hands around her throat.

‘SHE COULD NOT BREATHE AT ALL’

“She could not breathe at all,” he said.

“Her vision went dark and she tried to scratch and kick out at you but you continued to choke her until she lost consciousness.”

When the victim came to on the floor, Pauli was standing over her.

Judge Clarke said the victim screamed for help and Pauli got a knife and pointed it close to her chest.

The victim packed her things and Pauli took her to another house in Biloela.

Judge Clarke said when she showed people her injuries, Pauli got angry and when he was made to leave he smashed a window.

Crown prosecutor Ken Spinaze said Pauli had no criminal history and committed the offences while on bail.

Defence barrister Maree Willey said her client was likely to be held in immigration detention and be deported on his release.

Ms Willey said her client had travelled to Australia in 2021 on a three-year work Visa.

She said her client took responsibility for his offending.

“He says I’m the one, I’m the reason it happened,” she said.

She said her client grew up in Samoa and was financially assisting his parents, both of which are in poor health, sending money home to them.

Pauli pleaded guilty to three counts of threatening violence, two counts of choking and one count of wilful damage.

Judge Clarke sentenced Pauli to three years prison, suspended after one year for three years and declared 337 days of pre-sentence custody as time already served.