Warwick court: Repeat DV offender narrowly avoids jail after targeting child

A heated argument with his teenage daughter landed a man before the Warwick court when it escalated into violence, adding to the serial offender’s long history of aggressive conduct and DVO breaches.

A repeat domestic violence offender has narrowly avoided spending time behind bars after he faced the Warwick court for abusing his teenage daughter during a heated altercation at their home.

Warwick Magistrates Court was told the 53-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was on the patio of his Southern Downs home at about 8pm on March 5 when an argument broke out with his teenage daughter over that night’s dinner.

Police prosecutor Steve de Lissa said the man told the girl, “You’re just like your mother”, then grabbed her hair and pulled until her head tilted and she was dragged out of her seat.

“It caused her to feel some pain, but there was no injury,” he said.

The man’s ex-partner and mother of the girl reported the incident to police when she was told what had happened and the man came clean about the conduct, claiming he was incensed when his daughter told him to “f —k off”.

“The concerning factor is there are two breaches of a domestic violence order on the respondent’s history, one in 2021 and one in 2022,” Sergeant de Lissa said.

The Warwick court heard the two breaches were only the most recent in a long pattern of violent offending recorded in the man’s criminal history, which also included several convictions for assault occasioning bodily harm.

Defence lawyer Amber Acreman acknowledged the man’s worrying history, saying he was sentenced in court earlier this year over a verbal altercation with his ex-partner, from whom he had been separated for about a decade.

“My client knows he completely overreacted in this instance,” she said.

“He has some issues with speech or getting words out, which can make him frustrated and is something he wants to get help with.

“He thinks he needs to build resilience within himself and some better parenting skills before contacting his children again.”

The man’s aggressive conduct was slammed by magistrate Virginia Sturgess, who told him his history of violent crimes meant his daughter had likely learned any behavioural issues from him.

“Children can be frustrating, 15-year-olds can be difficult and they can be cheeky, but you as a parent have got to be a better person,” Ms Sturgess said.

“If you’re not happy with the way your daughter behaves or the way your daughter speaks towards you, you need to look at yourself in the mirror and think about where she probably learned it from.”

The man pleaded guilty to one count of contravening a domestic violence order.

He was sentenced to three months’ jail, wholly suspended for 15 months.