Townsville court: Shannon Capner jailed after years of domestic violence
Over eight years a Townsville man subjected his victim to degrading acts of violence. When his abuse finally came to light he gave someone $2000 and claimed he made arrangement for a “hit” on the woman.
Townsville
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A “CRUEL” man who subjected his partner to years of horrific mental and physical abuse is behind bars.
For the first time in more than a decade his victim will sleep soundly, knowing Shannon Leslie Capner will spend years behind bars, guilty of appalling offences against the person he was supposed to love and care for the most.
Over eight years Capner humiliated, degraded and assaulted his former partner.
In the years between 2011 and 2018, he broke her bones, spat, punched, kicked, hacked off her hair, wrapped his hands around her throat, stood on her neck with steel-capped boots, threatened to cut her, to kill her and to hurt her in a campaign of unthinkable control and violence.
The court was told on one occasion where he dragged her into a shed and stood over her with a sledge hammer.
He slammed it into the ground near her head, leaving a dent in the concrete and his violence continued as he suffocated her until she passed out and then threatened her with a knife.
The 42-year-old faced Townsville District court on Friday where he was sentenced for 20 domestic violence offences including suffocation, assault occasioning bodily harm and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Chief Judge Brian Devereaux described Capner’s actions as cruel and demeaning.
“It demeans society when such cruelty is perpetrated, it is not to be tolerated,” he said.
Capner showed little emotion as his crimes and their impact were detailed to the court and he was handed a six year jail sentence.
When the years of abuse came to light in 2018, Capner began reaching out to witnesses as well as the woman demanding she change her statement to police or asking others to not give evidence against him.
The court was told he also gave a person $2000 and told them he made arrangements for a “hit” on the woman.
Just a day after Capner’s barrister Jeffrey Hunter QC told the jury his victim’s testimony was a “gross distortion” of the truth, he pleaded guilty to 20 offences after a deal was reached to drop three of the most substantive charges including one of torture.
Crown Prosecutor Monique Sheppard said the plea was not a demonstration of remorse, but rather a “pragmatic decision” made after he realised the strength of the case against him.
She said the woman “meticulously documented” her injuries over the years of abuse and that a victim impact statement from the woman demonstrated her “profound trauma”.
“She constantly lives in fear and that will never change,” Ms Sheppard said.
“She hopes that a custodial sentence … will give her some relief.”
Mr Hunter told the court the pair’s relationship was “highly toxic” and described his client as hardworking and respected saying it was “difficult” to reconcile that man with the man described by the prosecution.
He argued the violence in the relationship was not one sided, but this submission was firmly rejected by Ms Sheppard who said there was no evidence before the court which showed the violence was “anything but one way”.
Both Ms Sheppard and Mr Hunter submitted a head sentence of three to four years was appropriate.
Judge Devereaux rejected this and imposed a sentence of six years as he described Capner’s actions as a cruel attempt to exert control over the woman.
“Your referees speak well of you … they attest to your loyalty and generosity, your hardworking nature, their confidence in their safety around you and their surprise at the allegations against you,” he said.
“All that is very well but it really is of little comfort that you could present yourself so well to some and yet have committed such violence.
“The conduct you pleaded guilty to was repeated, violent and demeaning.”
In sentencing, Judge Devereaux said it was “concerning” that Capner’s defence did not acknowledge what led to his violence or what might be done in the future to avoid it.
The 53 days Capner spent in custody before he was granted bail in 2018 were counted toward his sentence. He will be eligible to apply for parole on October 17, 2023.
If you are in immediate danger, call triple-0 for Police and Ambulance. 1800RESPECT or 1800 737 732 is a 24-hour national sexual assault, family and domestic violence hotline
Originally published as Townsville court: Shannon Capner jailed after years of domestic violence
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