Jack Baker: Man sentenced to jail in Warwick court over violent assaults on girlfriend

A man who punched, kicked, and spat on his partner while hurling derogatory insults at his victim while serving a suspended jail sentence for prior violent offending has been sentenced in Warwick court. FULL DETAILS:

A man who violently attacked his girlfriend on two separate occasions in only a matter of days has been sentenced to jail in the Warwick court, where he claimed the assaults were the result of undiagnosed mental illness.

Jack Baker and his partner were at a family home in Inglewood on December 1 last year, with other people present, when he suddenly told the woman she was a “sl-t” and made other derogatory comments towards her.

Police prosecutor Steve de Lissa told the Warwick Magistrates Court that Baker then spat on his victim’s face and hair, and followed the woman inside when she tried to get away from him.

“He’s all of a sudden, without warning, used a clenched fist to punch the victim in her left arm. It was extremely powerful, to the point the victim stated she was winded from the force,” Sergeant de Lissa said.

“Upon being punched, the victim huddled herself on the foot of the bed where she was sitting, and (Baker) has raised a clenched fist once again at the victim.

“(She) has turned away from the fist, and (Baker) has then used one of his bare feet to kick the victim in the left leg.”

The Warwick court it was less than two weeks later on December 12 that the 22-year-old again assaulted his partner, this time while the pair were having sex in their own home.

Sergeant de Lissa said Baker told his girlfriend, “You feel like a loose sl-t”, then stood up and grabbed a cushion that he used to pummel the woman about 10 times.

“At one stage, the victim has held up her hand in order to protect herself from incoming blows and the pillow impacted her right thumb, jarring it to the point it bent back touching her forearm,” he said.

The woman managed to escape the house and get to a safe location shortly after the assault, with police arresting Baker at the Inglewood home.

Sergeant de Lissa said the victim still had significant bruising on her arm caused by her partner’s first attack by the time she reported the second incident almost two weeks later.

The court heard Baker was serving a suspended jail sentence at the time of the assaults, and had previously received other jail terms for similar offending.

Defence lawyer Clare Hine said her client worked hard to rehabilitate after being released from his last jail sentence, working full-time and clean from ice for the first time since he was 16 until his mental health began to deteriorate last year.

“He was experiencing paranoia (and hallucinations), including that his girlfriend was cheating on him and his work mates were out to get him,” she said.

“In terms of the offending, he says he has absolutely excuses and says his behaviour was appalling. He is very lucky that the injuries were of a reasonably low level.”

Ms Hine said Baker had served 144 days in pre-sentence custody, in which time he had worked closely with the jail’s mental health team to reach a formal schizophrenia diagnosis and find the right medication.

Magistrate Virginia Sturgess said Baker’s concerning criminal history showed a pattern of domestic violence towards several women.

“This is not the first time you have engaged in domestic abuse, and it won’t be the last unless you do something to address it,” she said.

“You are making a choice. You are making a choice to use violence towards your partners that you would not use in your workplace.”

Baker pleaded guilty to two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm.

He was sentenced to 15 months’ jail with eligibility for parole in June.