Warwick court: Serial domestic violence offender walks free after breaching protection notice

A former Warwick dad who breached a protection notice within hours of its creation and has previously been sentenced to jail over a string of domestic violence offences has walked free from court. FULL DETAILS HERE.

A serial domestic violence offender who has previously been sentenced to jail for an appalling assault on his partner has again fronted court, this time for breaching a protection notice within only hours of it being enforced.

The former Warwick man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, went to his partner’s home on the afternoon of December 28, 2020, to collect a few of his belongings.

Warwick Magistrates Court heard the woman refused to let the 24-year-old into the house, and a male friend visiting her at the time also told the man to leave.

Police prosecutor Steve de Lissa said a verbal argument soon escalated into a brief physical fight between the two men, which spilt out onto the road but did not cause either person with injury.

He said the man’s actions were a blatant breach of the police protection notice taken out against him earlier that same day, and occurred in the same period as a string of domestic violence offences that earned the man a three-year jail term with immediate parole.

“He had also been messaging her, but when spoken to in relation to that he indicated she was messaging him back,” Sergeant de Lissa said.

“He has some history here, as you would imagine with those other charges that have been dealt with in the District Court.

“However, if these had been included in the original sentence, I don’t think he would have been more severely punished.”

Duty lawyer Phillip Crook submitted references from the man’s doctor and parole officer attesting to the improvements in his mental health and commitment to meeting the requirements of his supervisory order.

He said the father’s mental health concerns were exacerbated at the time by family issues, including his grandmother being diagnosed with cancer.

“Basically all those references and so forth show that he’s definitely improved, he’s very remorseful, and he’s doing things such as community assistance,” Mr Crook said.

The man pleaded guilty to two counts of contravening a police protection notice and one of public nuisance as a domestic violence offence.

He was convicted but not further punished on all counts.