Mathew Gilbert convicted over domestic violence rampage
A former abattoir worker has gone on a domestic violence rampage choking a young mum, threatening to burn down her house and snatching an iPad from a toddler.
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A 20-year-old former abattoir worker whose acts of domestic violence left a young mum so terrified she locked herself in a bedroom in fear has been handed his first jail sentence.
Wellington man Mathew James Gilbert and his partner had been arguing about whether or not to go to a pub when he snapped on a night in November last year.
According to court documents, Gilbert grabbed the woman by the throat and began to throw her around in her Wellington home.
Next he grabbed both the woman’s arms and pushed her to the ground.
While she was down, Gilbert picked up a pair of shorts and set them on fire.
“You want me to burn your house down while you and the kids are in it,” Gilbert said to the woman before he extinguished the fire, threw the shorts in a wardrobe and went to the pub.
Hours later and loaded up with alcohol at 4.30am, Gilbert rang the woman to pick him up from the pub.
When the pair returned to the woman’s house, Gilbert started accusing the woman of lying about the location of a packet of cigarettes.
Gilbert grabbed the woman’s phone off a charger, smashed the screen on the end of bed and destroyed it so she could not contact police.
He also tried to take an iPad off a three-year-old child but failed.
Gilbert continued his rampage by grabbing the woman’s shirt and trying to pull her to the ground, however she fought back and pulled him to the ground.
After an apprehended violence order was put in place and while Gilbert was on bail, he found the woman at a Dubbo home in May this year.
Terrified, the woman locked herself in a bedroom with a toddler’s bed and speakers pushed up against the door.
While in the backyard Gilbert said “I’m gonna come back here and burn the house down and burn the car out”.
He was arrested by police and has been remanded in custody since.
In Wellington Local Court Gilbert pleaded guilty to a string of AVO breach charges, two counts of intimidation and lone counts of property damage, common assault and intentionally choking a person without their consent.
Gilbert’s lawyer told the court his client was a former worker at Fletchers abattoir, had a rough upbringing and was still coping with the death of his father.
While Magistrate Stephen Olischlager acknowledged that Gilbert was spending time in jail for the first time and was still a youth, he said the “serious violence” committed meant more time behind bars was required.
“It occurred in the presence of a young child,” Magistrate Olischlager said of Gilbert’s violence.
“Clearly alcohol is a problem for you.”
Gilbert was sentenced to 12 months in jail, with a six month non-parole period.
He will be eligible for parole on November 16.