Braydon Sainsbury pleads guilty to assault and failing to stop after accident

A plumber has fronted court for assaulting a woman, after he was confronted about causing damage to her car while he was driving drunk.

Braydon Sainsbury.

A Curlewis plumber had been “drinking all day” when he stole a set of car keys from a woman’s home and drove off in her car before returning and assaulting her.

Braydon Sainsbury, 25, pleaded guilty in Geelong Magistrates Court on Monday to a number of charges including assault and failing to stop a vehicle after an accident.

The court heard Sainsbury was at the woman’s house with some friends on September 17 last year and had been drinking throughout the day.

He decided to take the woman’s car to purchase more alcohol about 8.30pm.

When he returned to the home, the woman noticed damage to her car and confronted Sainsbury.

Police prosecutor Maille Cornelius said Sainsbury then grabbed the woman and pushed her on the corner of the dining table.

Police attended the house and took Sainsbury to the police station where he recorded a blood alcohol concentration of 0.124 at 10.30pm, nearly two hours after the incident.

In a separate matter on October 14, last year, Sainsbury was passed out at midnight in Little Malop St when he was woken up by officers.

Sainsbury asked the officers if they could give him a lift home and was told they would need to search him first, which he consented to.

The court heard police found bags of cannabis in Sainsbury and he admitted using it for personal use.

Sainsbury’s lawyer, Bill Sizeland, said his client had issues iwht alcohol.

On the day of the assault, Mr Sizeland said his client had been “drinking all day”.

“It’s a constant theme in all of his offending that he cannot handle the consumption of alcohol,” Mr Sizeland said.

“Once he starts drinking, he drinks to excess and has no control, or very little control over his decision making.

“He can’t recall the assault but doesn’t dispute the evidence that it occurred,” he said.

Magistrate Urfa Masood convicted and sentenced Sainsbury to a 15-month community corrections order.

Ms Masood said Sainsbury’s alcohol use had affected his behaviour.

“Violence towards anyone is not acceptable,” she said.

Originally published as Braydon Sainsbury pleads guilty to assault and failing to stop after accident