Push and fall ends with broken hip and jail sentence

A Maclean man who pushed his partner during an argument which saw her fall and break her hip has been jailed

Court generic, Lady Justice statue

A MACLEAN man has been jailed for breaking his partner's hip after he pushed her into a refrigerator during an argument earlier this year.

Paul Anthony Crozier appeared in Grafton Local Court last week for sentence after pleading guilty to reckless grievous bodily harm and two charges of possessing a prohibited drug.

According to court documents Crozier and the victim had been in a relationship for around four years and lived together in Maclean when at about 6pm on June 3 an argument started over money the victim wished to give to a friend.

The court heard the victim was standing in the doorway area in the kitchen and during the argument Crozier pushed her, and she fell into the wall next to the fridge and slipped in a puddle of water.

Court documents state the force of the push was strong enough for the victim fall to the ground, and was then in severe pain.

The court documents state Crozier helped the victim to the lounge and then called an ambulance. The victim was taken to Maclean District Hospital where it was found she had suffered a broken hip.

Police attended the hospital to speak to Crozier and found him in a groggy state drifting in and out of being able to speak with police, and he said he was in no fit state to supply police with a statement.

The following day police spoke with Crozier at his Maclean property and made admissions to pushing the victim into the fridge causing her to fall onto the ground.

Police arrested Crozier and a search of the premises uncovered 0.29g of methylamphetamine and 9.98g of marijuana.

In Grafton Local Court magistrate Kathy Crittenden sentenced Crozier to a term of imprisonment of 18 months backdated to June 3 2020 with a non-parole period of 12 months.

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