Luke Mathieson: appeal dismissed after man poured petrol over his partner and tried to burn her

A man’s request for a shorter jail sentence has been denied after a Judge determined he inflicted a “truly horrifying” ongoing “regime of terror” on his partner.

A man’s request for a shorter jail sentence has been denied after a judge determined he inflicted a “truly horrifying” ongoing “regime of terror” on his partner.

Luke Brock Mathieson, 34, appeared in Campbelltown District Court on Friday to appeal the severity of his sentence after he was jailed for assault, intimidation, two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and four counts of destruction of property.

The court heard Mathieson had subjected his partner to an escalating pattern of domestic abuse between March and August last year.

Documents tendered to the court reveal Mathieson was jealous and often accused the victim of cheating on him, such as on March 22 when he broke the rear vision mirror and part of the steering wheel on her car after she spoke to her old teacher at a service station.

Luke Brock Mathieson has been jailed for persistent domestic abuse, which culminated when he poured petrol over his partner and pushed her towards the lit candles.

In a fit of anger about finding a man’s number in her phone on May 1, the documents show Mathieson hit the victim across the face and caused her lip to split and bleed. When she tried to leave, he told her: “Don’t even think about it, or I will do it again.”

The documents state Mathieson had been drinking when he threw the victim at a set of stairs and then dragged her by her ponytail towards the house when she was unable to stand because of the pain in her leg.

As well as physical assault, Mathieson also verbally abused the victim by calling her a number of names, including a “sly s***” and a liar.

Over the course of their six month relationship, he smashed four of her phones, an expensive hair dryer, her kitchen window, and a number of her floor tiles.

The relationship culminated in a shocking outburst of domestic abuse that the court documents reveal has had a lasting impact on the victim.

On the evening of August 15 last year, the Woonona man called his partner a “f***ing s***” and grabbed her phone to go through her messages while she was talking to a friend.

After giving her back the phone, he went to the laundry room and got a jerry can full of petrol, which the victim thought he was going to use on their wood fire. Instead, he mouthed at her to “hang up the f***ing phone” and poured the petrol over the woman’s head, shoulders and back in her Moss Vale home.

The victim froze out of fear and shock while the petrol caused damage to her skin and eyes. The documents state she begged Mathieson not to hurt her as he told her to move towards the lit candles and pushed her.

The victim went outside and curled into a ball while Mathieson tried to get her to come back inside to talk. Texts between the two after the assault show the victim was frantic about the pervasive smell of the petrol throughout the house.

Luke Brock Mathieson subjected his partner to verbal and physical abuse throughout their relationship.

“My f***ing skins (sic) burning, my throat hurts, the house stinks,” the victim texted after sending a gut-wrenching message asking for help.

“I’m on the phone shut up (sic). All you do is talk s***. Shut up with your lies,” he replied.

Judge Andrew Colefax said Mathieson subjected his partner to an ongoing “regime of terror” which culminated in the vile petrol attack.

“The offences committed by Mr Mathieson over that six month period constituted a regime of violence of increasing viciousness,” he said.

“That (petrol pouring) offence is a truly horrifying one. It is one that Mr Mathieson failed to acknowledge his guilt in.”

Judge Colefax opined the case should have been elevated to the District Court, where Mathieson could have received a lengthier sentence.

“I find it difficult to understand why the crown elected to pursue that horrific offence in the local court,” he said.

The court heard Mathieson was serving a community corrections order for a previous conviction of assault when he began his campaign of domestic abuse.

“Within two months, you’ve breached it,” Judge Colefax said.

While Mathieson told the court he was “ashamed” of his actions, the court heard the father-of-one has been ashamed of his actions previously and has continued to offend.

Mathieson told the court his ongoing addictions to alcohol, cocaine, and meth were the reason for his offending. The court heard he turned to drugs and alcohol at a young age to cope with an abusive and violent childhood.

At the time of the offences, court documents reveal Mathieson was spending hundreds of dollars a week on alcohol and regularly using cocaine.

Luke Brock Mathieson denied committing the offences in the local court.

“Under the period of time I’ve been under the influence of a significant amount of drugs, it’s definitely contributed to stupid decisions I’ve made in the past,” he said.

However, Judge Colefax noted he didn’t mention the impact on the victim.

“He has shown no meaningful remorse,” the judge concluded.

“I disagree profoundly with the author of the report that says Mr Mathieson is a low to medium risk of reoffending. I think he is a high risk.”

Judge Colefax dismissed the appeal and upheld the local court sentence, noting that he would have imposed even higher indicative sentences than those imposed by the local court magistrate.

Mathieson has been sentenced to four years and four months in jail with a non-parole period of two years and eight months.

The victim is protected by a ten year apprehended violence order.