Warwick court: Father breaches domestic violence order twice in same afternoon

A Warwick man who breached a domestic violence order twice in the same afternoon has claimed he was threatened by his ex-partner’s father and family amid a long-running custody battle. FULL DETAILS.

A Warwick father has claimed he was trying to spare his daughter the fallout of a bitter and long-running family dispute when he breached a domestic violence order twice in the one afternoon.

The 25-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, went to pick up his current partner’s children from a Warwick primary school on the afternoon of February 8 when he noticed his own daughter crying nearby.

Warwick Magistrates Court heard the man approached his ex-partner’s step-sister, who waiting outside the school gates for the former couple’s child, and told her he would take his daughter home with him due to her being upset.

Police prosecutor Steve de Lissa said the man told the step-sister, “She’s my child, I can take her if I want to,” before saying he would drop his daughter to her mother’s house that afternoon.

The court was told the man then took his daughter back to the step-sister’s house a few hours later and a fiery argument broke out between him and his ex’s father, leaving the man reluctant to leave his child at the home and eventually deciding to keep her with him for the night.

Sergeant de Lissa said both incidents breached the domestic violence order currently in place.

The man had previously appeared in court for the same offending.

Duty lawyer Clare Hine said there was a long history of conflict between her client and his ex-partner, particularly around their two children, with their younger son significantly disabled and now living with the man’s mother.

She said the man was also a full-time carer for his terminally-ill father and was hoping to soon have the domestic violence order altered to clarify custody and visitation arrangements, given he had previously had both children placed in his care.

“He turned up at the house and had (his daughter) in the car, and what’s happened is the aggrieved’s father came out and they had a heated exchange, and my client says the father threatened him and then another four people came out of the house,” Ms Hine said.

“He simply said he didn’t want to leave his daughter there, there was too much violence.”

Magistrate Julian Noud acknowledged the man’s difficult family situation, but warned that continued disregard for domestic violence orders would soon see him face more severe punishments in court.

The man pleaded guilty to two counts of contravening a domestic violence order as an aggravated offence.

He was placed on probation for 18 months.