Keegan May sentenced in Taree court for domestic violence against ex-partner

The northern NSW council worker who urinated on his partner more than once and beat her with a pole telling police the injuries were from falls at the skatepark, has been sentenced.

Taree Courthouse.

A council traffic controller who urinated on his partner on more than one occasion and beat her with a metal pole has been sentenced in Taree local court.

Keegan May has been remanded in custody since his arrest in October last year.

The 30-year-old pleaded guilty to stalking and intimidating, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and destroying property (a mobile phone) and appeared before Magistrate Brennan on Monday to be sentenced.

Mr Brennan told the court that domestic violence perpetrators are not often sentenced to full-time custodial jail terms in the local court but May’s offending was particularly “degrading” to the victim.

According to police documents May had been living with his partner in Taree for several months before the crimes took place.

On September 25 the couple fought at home, before the woman went to bed, only to be woken up by May urinating on her.

They continued to fight and May grabbed a metal wardrobe hanger pole and struck her with it, then grabbed her by the hair and dragged her to a spare bedroom and said “that’s where the dogs sleep”.

The next morning she was woken again with May urinating on her.

Keegan May. Picture: Facebook.

In the months leading up to the horrific incident during arguments, May would point a replica gun at the woman or use it to threaten suicide according to court documents.

This occurred about six times in one month and on October 11 when he asked for the gun the victim called the police who later found it wrapped in a bandana in a pot plant and arrested him.

During sentencing, Mr Brennan told the court that a charge of using an offensive weapon with intent to commit an indictable offence had been withdrawn but the “details were still contained in the (police) facts”.

The pistol was described as a “significantly replicated Colt Python” with no coloured features that would make somebody think it was a toy.

May’s lawyer told the court his client had worked for Taree council as a traffic controller (Taree falls within the MidCoast Council area) and that a jail term served in the community would be appropriate due to his lack of prior offending and his “mental health”.

Mr Brennan said May’s sentencing assessment report indicated he was trying to steer a lot of the blame back to the victim.

When police showed him photos of the injuries to her arm, abdomen and buttocks, May blamed them on “clumsy falling at the skate park”.

May was sentenced to eight months in prison with a six month non-parole period.

He will be first eligible for release on April 11 this year.