Tristan Andy Cortes faces Toowoomba District Court for strangling, stalking ex-partner

A 21-year-old man choked his partner on three separate occasions and then stalked her when she escaped him. See what happened in court.

A 21-year-old Toowoomba man who choked his then de facto partner on three separate occasions to the point she struggled to breathe has been jailed for three years.

On the first occasion in July 2021, Tristan Andy Cortes, then 19, had become angry with his partner who had visited a nearby pub in Dalby, Toowoomba District Court was told.

During the argument, Cortes grabbed the then 19-year-old woman by the throat and squeezed for about 30 seconds to the point she had trouble breathing, Crown prosecutor Nicole Friedewald told the court.

He had only stopped when his brother intervened, she said.

On the second occasion in October 2021, the pair had been at the woman’s family home in Nanango when they had again engaged in an argument and he had pinned her to a bed and again grabbed her by the throat and squeezed for about 30 seconds, she said.

Toowoomba Courthouse

In November of that year, Cortes had become angry with her as she drove them to a family gathering and he had suddenly ripped her rear vision mirror off its plate and punched her car stereo, the court was told.

Then, after the pair had separated but the woman had given birth to their child, she had allowed Cortes, who was on parole by then, to visit their two-month-old child in July 2022.

When an argument erupted, he threatened to drive off in her car and she followed him to the garage where he pushed her against the car and again grabbed her by the throat, squeezing for about 30 seconds until she had trouble breathing, Ms Friedewald said.

Following that incident, the woman had obtained an order to keep Cortes away from her but he had over 10 days in September 2022 texted her some 50 times with threatening, menacing and derogatory messages, leading to a charge of stalking.

When spoken to by police, Cortes denied any of the choking allegations and blamed his ex- girlfriend for sending the text messages on his phone, Ms Friedewald said.

The woman had been in such fear of Cortes that she had blocked him on her phone and moved out of the district, she said.

Cortes, who had spent about nine months in custody since his final arrest, appeared in custody to plead guilty to three counts of strangulation in a domestic setting and one each of wilful damage and stalking.

Judge Jennifer Rosengren

Judge Jennifer Rosengren noted Cortes had been using drugs at the time.

“I hope that all of this conduct can simply be explained by your young age and your drug use,” she told him.

“I hope that your time in jail has made you realise that drugs ruin lives and ice is toward the top of the list.”

“It (ice) destroys jobs, it destroys families and it destroys lives, I hope this has been one very big wake up call for you.”

However, telling Cortes he had youth on his side and could turn his life around, Judge Rosengren sentenced him to three years in jail but, declaring 233 days of pre-sentence custody as time already served, ordered he be eligible to apply for parole as of August 20.

Originally published as Tristan Andy Cortes faces Toowoomba District Court for strangling, stalking ex-partner