Toowoomba dad assaults 1yo son, chokes mother in drunken rage

A brutish father mercilessly strangled his partner while she held their terrified young son, who he had just attacked, in her arms.

Picture: File

After brutally assaulting his one year old son, a man held his hands to his partner’s throat – all while she held their young son in her arms.

A Toowoomba father of four has pleaded guilty in Toowoomba District Court to a host of violent offences after he drunkenly assaulted his one year old son then strangled the mother of his children while they watched on.

Crown prosecutor Nicole Friedewald told the court the man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his victims, attacked the mother of his children following an argument over finances.

“He then grabbed his backpack and hit the complainant, his partner, three times to the stomach and back,” she said.

He continued his assault in front of his four children, causing welts and bruising to the mother’s body and upsetting his one-year-old son.

The crying infuriated the man who told the boy to “shut the f*** up” before throwing a duffel bag at him.

“That bag struck the complainant child and knocked him over,” Ms Friedewald said.

“He hit his head on a kitchen cupboard, causing bruising and swelling to his forehead.”

The mother consoled her child and called police which further incensed the man.

“He placed both hands around her neck and began squeezing,” Ms Friedewald said.

“(He) did this while she was holding the one-year-old child.”

The pair struggled for around three minutes with the woman gasping to catch her breath.

“He threatened her, ‘I’ll give you something to call the police about’,” Ms Friedewald stated.

“It was only when she told him that she had not, in fact, called the police and had lied to scare him that he let go of her.”

“This is the third time he has offended against her.

“He has been given opportunities in the past, by the court, to improve his behaviour … and he has effectively snubbed his nose at those interventions.”

The man was subject to a domestic violence order at the time of the offence which required him to restrict his blood alcohol concentration to 0.05 in the presence of his children and their mother; however, police claimed he returned a reading of 0.187 that night.

Defence barrister John Davis instructed by McConnell and Saldumbide Criminal Lawyers argued the man was of good character when not drinking.

“(A lifelong friend) describes him as being a ‘wonderful dad who’s very proud of his four children and speaks about them with excitement and love’,” Mr Davis said.

“It’s a reference that’s speaking of (the man) when sober.

“He has obviously been sober while he remains in custody but he also intends on remaining sober.”

Mr Davis argued an early release date of Christmas Eve would benefit his children who had expressed concern for their missing father.

“It would be a sentence that encourages his rehabilitation, it gives him a longer period of time on parole, essentially a longer period of time that he’s able to prove himself as being worthy of going back to being a father and potentially a partner,” he said.

“Giving him every chance to be there essentially as a Christmas gift to his kids.

The man was formally charged with two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm while armed (domestic violence), and one count each of strangulation in a domestic setting (domestic violence), assault occasioning bodily harm (domestic violence) and contravention of a domestic violence order with circumstances of aggravation.

He was sentenced to three years imprisonment with 206 days served in presentence custody and a parole release date of January 25, 2025.

Originally published as Toowoomba dad assaults 1yo son, chokes mother in drunken rage