Dayne Teece in Coffs Harbour court on domestic violence assault charges

The assault continued the next day and although the man and his victim have reconciled, the magistrate said she “must consider” putting him behind bars. See what happened in court.

“I don’t want to see Mr Teece go inside but I don’t see how I can avoid it.”

These were magistrate Julia Virgo’s words to the lawyer representing Dayne Teece in Coffs Harbour Local Court on Tuesday, September 6.

Teece was facing sentence for a number of charges in relation to what Ms Virgo described as an “unprovoked” assault that “lasted for some time”.

The charges relate to an incident which began on May 1 and occurred in the victim’s home over a number of days, the court heard.

Teece has been on bail since May 3.

“It was not isolated or impulsive,” Ms Virgo told the court.

She said it involved “kicking of the victim while she was on the kitchen floor, then the following day the further assault of pushing in the living room”.

Lawyer Jesse Sinclair told the court his client had finished a period of rehabilitation in October last year and was sober for a number of months before a traumatic family event “put him back on the wagon so to speak”.

The 40-year-old had also gained “profound insight into his offending” from taking part in various initiatives including the Strong Aboriginal Men Program and had recently gained employment as a concrete renderer, Mr Sinclair told the court.

Mr Sinclair conceded that in addition to the assault on May 1 Teece had breached a community corrections order and apprehended violence order “with the same complainant”.

The couple has since reconciled and she would have appeared in court to support him if it wasn’t for her work commitments, Mr Sinclair told the court.

He further told the court that his client had “pled guilty at the first opportunity” and he urged the magistrate to also take this into consideration.

Ms Virgo recognised Teese’s “problematic relationship with alcohol and possibly cannabis” but also noted he had failed to attend a number of appointments as part of the Magistrates Early Referral into Treatment (MERIT) program.

When asked to clarify his status with the MERIT program, police prosecutor Sergeant David Sams said Teece had been “kicked out” of it.

The matter was listed for sentence, but when Ms Virgo indicated she was considering sending him “inside”, Teece’s lawyer Jesse Sinclair pleaded for an adjournment.

“I don’t want to see Mr Teece go inside but I don’t see how I can avoid it,” Ms Virgo said.

Mr Sinclair asked his client if he would reconsider undertaking the MERIT program again and he said yes, although Ms Virgo said “I think it needs to go beyond MERIT”.

The matter was adjourned to October 18 for the following charges:

- Common assault (domestic violence)

- Contravene prohibition/restriction in AVO (domestic)

- Contravene prohibition/restriction in AVO (domestic)

- Stalk/intimidate intend fear physical etc harm (domestic)

- Common assault (domestic violence)-T2

- Destroy or damage property (domestic violence).