“I’m going to murder her this time, I’ll kill her”

A Court has heard of a victim‘s terrifying encounter with a man who threatened to slit her throat.

Jesse Mark Cook, 33, who appeared via audiovisual link, was convicted, and sentenced at Grafton Local Court for breaching an apprehended domestic violence order, common assault, and intimidation to cause fear of physical harm.

An Ulmarra man will undergo rehabilitation as part of his Community Corrections Order after pleading guilty to multiple domestic violence-related charges.

Jesse Mark Cook, 33, who appeared via audiovisual link, was convicted, and sentenced at Grafton Local Court for breaching an apprehended domestic violence order, common assault, and intimidation to cause fear of physical harm.

On December 18, 2020, Cook attended a Tucabia residence where he was “in close proximity to the victim’s face” and, “…spit in the victim’s face, causing the victim to immediately feel filthy,” a Police Fact Sheet tendered to the Court has revealed.

According to further Court documents, on January 2, 2021, the victim awoke at around 6.30am to find Cook “ranting and raving… jumping up and down whilst standing in the doorway” of their bedroom. During the period, Cook and the victim made their way to the kitchen/dining room area where Cook was talking on a cordless phone.

Court documents state that the victim could see Cook spitting and frothing at the mouth while continuing to jump up and down on the spot before he stated, “I’m going to murder her this time, I’ll kill her, I will kill her” and threatening to slit the victim’s throat.

Cook continued to contact persons via the cordless phone and abuse them before taking it into the shower and throwing it into the bathtub. The Fact Sheet goes on to state that Cook then returned to the kitchen and slammed the cordless phone down on the bench before leaving the premises.

Police were contacted and arrived a short time later where they obtained photos of the cordless phone. Cook was later found in Tucabia where he was placed under arrest.

Six months after the incident, Cook was again arrested when he arrived at a protected victim’s house and “appeared to be under the influence of drugs,” the Police Fact Sheet states. After ranting and marching around the house, Cook went into a bedroom. The victim messaged a friend requesting police who arrived a short time later and found Cook laying on the bed.

Cook was arrested and charged for contravening an apprehended domestic violence order.

During sentencing, Cook’s defence described the father of four had struggled with drug use for many years and while “he has never been to rehab, he is willing to do so.”

Grafton Local Court Magistrate Kathy Crittenden agreed with Cook’s defence that drug use played a part in his offending and that some sort of rehabilitation would be required.

“It’s plain that each of these offences committed relates to your illicit substance use which you must address,” she said.

“I’m sure this has been a bit of a wakeup call for you.”

Cook was sentenced to a 12-month Community Corrections Order and ordered to complete a domestic violence and drug rehabilitation program.