Dalby man given jail with immediate parole for two domestic violence order breaches

A man who took his sick mum a cup of coffee on his birthday despite a domestic violence protection order forbidding any contact between the pair has been ordered to serve a jail sentence in the community.

A Dalby man was warned that if he comes within 100 metres of his mum he will be sent straight back to jail after he twice breached a domestic violence order preventing any contact between the pair.

The 35-year-old Dalby man had received a nine-month jail sentence in 2022 for a charge of serious assault of a person over 60 after he beat his mum.

He served 84 days in pre-sentence custody before he was released on parole.

On Friday, the Dalby Magistrates Court heard the man was serving a suspended jail sentence for an earlier domestic violence breach when he drove to visit his mum for his birthday the day before.

The court heard that the visit breached a DVO despite the mum inviting her son into her home.

Police Prosecutor Chris Hutchins told the court that the man left the car at the house on Thursday and returned about 4am on Friday to pick it up and bring his mum a coffee.

“Police were conducting patrols of the area when they observed the Holden Commodore parked (in the mother’s driveway) and identified a male in the driver seat with the door ajar,” he said.

Checks revealed the DVO was in place, that the Commodore was bearing false plates, and that the man’s license had been suspended by a court order.

The man was arrested and brought before the Magistrates Court where he pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching a domestic violence order, unlicensed driving and using a vehicle with false plates.

Duty lawyer Joe McConnell said his client’s mother had bowel cancer and her son felt a need to support her.

He also conceded that the man’s previous jail sentence for assaulting his mum meant that he was at risk of being jailed for any breach of the DVO, despite how minor it was.

Acting Magistrates Andrew Cridland sentenced the man to a month in jail and activated the man’s earlier suspended jail sentence.

Given there was no actual violence or threats in the breaches, Mr Cridland released the man on immediate parole.

He also suspended the man from holding a driver's licence for two years.

“These orders mean what they say,” Mr Cridland said.

 

Originally published as Dalby man given jail with immediate parole for two domestic violence order breaches