DV brute used frying pan to beat partner, kicked family dog

A 31-year-old man faced court this week charged with hitting his partner over the head with a frying pan during a heated argument

Clarence Crime generic

A man has been sentenced after he was found guilty of assaulting his partner with a frying pan during an argument.

Blake Mitchell appeared in Grafton Local Court on Tuesday to continue his hearing into alleged offending dating back to July 2019.

The 31-year-old had previously plead not guilty to being armed with intent to commit an indictable offence and common assault.

The court heard evidence from the victim's police statement, and officers that responded to the incident which took place at Elland, south of Grafton.

According to court documents, about 5.30pm Wednesday July 17, 2019, the victim arrived home from work after receiving a number of text messages from Mitchell that indicated he was angry at her.

The court heard that as a result, the victim began a voice recording on her mobile phone. The victim walked into the kitchen area and the accused began to verbally argue with her in relation to the state of cleanliness of the house and the fact that the victim had the shed key in her possession.

Evidence was tendered during the hearing that during the argument Mitchell said to the victim "I'll f------ smash you dog" and "I'll f------ knock your face off c---, I'll make sure no one will ever love you again."

Court documents reveal that Mitchell then armed himself with a metal cooking pan from the kitchen counter and hit her on the top of the head, causing a lump to form on her head and the metal pan to bend on the side.

The court heard Mitchell then grabbed a can of dog food from the kitchen counter and threw it toward the victim, however the can missed her and landed on the floor, causing dog food to spill onto the floor. The family's dog began eating the spilt food. Mitchell then kicked the dog and left the location.

The victim stopped the voice recording and contacted police to report the matter, as the victim was a person under the protection of an AVO.

The hearing went part-heard on October 13 last year, and on Wednesday at the conclusion of the evidence magistrate Kathy Crittenden found Mitchell guilty of both charges.

At a previous court date Mitchell had plead guilty to two separate charges of stalk/intimidate intend fear of physical harm and contravene a restriction in an AVO stemming from the incident.

Mitchell was convicted and sentenced to a 12-month intensive correction order, including 100 hours community service. He was also fined $400.

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