Warwick man Nathan Yeo jailed for kicking, punching woman in heinous assault

While a victim writhed in pain from having teeth snapped off after being punched and kicked in the face and choked, her abuser got a knife and held it to her throat. Even from jail, he continued his reign of terror.

Warwick man Nathan Yeo has been jailed over brutal assaults where he snapped his girlfriend's teeth, kicked and punched her in the head and choked her.

A man who pummelled his girlfriend in the face so severely it snapped off her tooth leaving the root exposed, went on to hold a knife to her throat and yell at her while she writhed in pain.

Nathan Thomas Yeo brutalised his girlfriend between December 28, 2021 and January 6, 2022, inflicting a series of sickening assaults on the woman.

The Warwick District Court was told Yeo, who was recently sentenced for smuggling drugs into jail, called the woman a dog and referred to her bedroom as her “kennel”.

Judge Amanda McDonnell recounted the harrowing attacks, which saw the woman seeking treatment at hospital twice in just days for significant mouth injuries.

Her Honour noted that in the first incident, Yeo threw a cordial bottle at the back of the woman’s head before punching her in the face repeatedly.

“You then sat on her stomach, straddling her with one leg either side of her body, and put your hands around her throat and squeezed,” she said.

“Your hands were slightly overlapping with your thumb and index fingers underneath her chin and the rest of your fingers wrapped around her neck.

“(The victim) found it hard to breathe and talk and became light-headed, her face was red, her throat was sore, and her voice was croaky for approximately two days.”

During the same day, he shoved the woman into a bench before unleashing a horrific assault, punching her in the face and breaking her two front teeth.

The woman suffered “immense pain” and was treated at Warwick Hospital.

Days later the attacks intensified, with Yeo again punching the woman in the side of the face, this time causing two of the teeth on the

left side of her mouth to break, one snapping off so severely it left the root exposed.

Judge McDonnell said the woman suffered “extreme pain and bleeding”, with Yeo then getting a “flick knife” and putting it to her throat while he yelled at her.

Despite his victim’s obvious severe pain and injuries, Yeo’s brutality continued the next day.

“You kicked her to the left side of the head without warning, which was the side where she had a tooth removed the previous day, causing shock and pain and she started to cry,” Judge McDonnell said.

“You then kicked her to the head and face four times, causing significant pain, swelling and bruising to her face, left ear and left eye.”

While on remand, Yeo contacted the woman and threatened her if she didn’t falsely tell police she’d lied about the attacks out of jealousy.

The court was told the now 32-year-old was last year sentenced to three years’ jail for smuggling drugs into jail. He also has an “extensive” criminal history across New South Wales and Queensland, which included wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, domestic violence, assaulting or obstructing police and drug offences.

Defence barrister Jess Goldie said her client was a survivor of childhood abuse and battled drug addiction his entire life, after being introduced to ecstasy at age 12 before moving onto heroin by 14.

Ms Goldie said Yeo was considered a model prisoner and was housed in a residential area, while also working in metal fabrication and studying an engineering certificate.

Yeo pleaded guilty to two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm, four of assault and one each of choking, threaten with intent to compel, and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

He was sentenced to three years and nine months’ jail, with parole eligibility from November 10, 2023.