Mohammad Momin Khan: Punchbowl student jailed

A man who degraded, assaulted and harassed his former partner received brutal punishment in jail when his lung was punctured in a stabbing.

A university student forcibly shaved his partner’s head and then pressured her to alter her evidence which outlined his campaign of domestic violence.

Mohammad Momin Khan, 24, faced Penrith Local Court where it was heard he assaulted and degraded his now former partner and destroyed her property.

The court heard the Punchbowl student, who is midway through a five-year civil engineering and finance degree, had been in his first significant romantic relationship with the woman.

Court documents revealed Khan had an “extensive violent history with the victim” and had “no regard for her safety and wellbeing”.

The court heard he had previously been charged with matters of degradation, including shaving the victim’s head, assaulting her and destroying her property.

He had previously pleaded guilty to breaching his apprehended violence order (AVO) three times since early 2021.

But he faced court last week for acting with the intent to influence a witness – his former partner.

The court heard Khan had shaved the woman’s head

Describing the head shaving incident, Khan’s barrister, Michael Fokkes, told the court while it is “not a particularly serious common assault” he conceded “there is an unpleasant element of misogyny and shaming in this case.”

Court documents reveal the victim requested an apprehended violence order (AVO) on May 28 2021.

In the weeks that followed Khan “persistently harassed the victim to contact the officer in charge and inform him that she lied with the evidence she provided police,” court documents reveal.

He also wrote a text message which he told the victim to forward to police. The message, which he intended to sound as if it was written by her, stated it was her fault “in order to try and have her evidence compromised and charges subsequently dismissed,” agreed police facts state.

Khan’s plan was for the victim to pretend she was extremely drunk at the time and made mistakes during her statement to police.

He told her to write: “I assumed he (Khan) took my phone and I went to the bathroom trying to receive it, however, he ran away at the time thus making me believe that he was running away with my phone.

“Upon further investigation the next morning when I sobered up the phone was found in a tear in the lining of my bag and Mohammad ran because I was getting aggressive and he didn’t want this situation to escalate.”

After persistent pressure, she sent this email to the officer in charge on August 20, court documents reveal.

But days later the victim managed to send a separate email when she was away from Khan.

She wrote: “Sorry pls don’t include this in the statement but now and his family are nagging me to lie about everything so he doesn’t get charged, he said he wants to take me into the police station today and won’t leave my mum’s house.”

Fearing for her safety police rushed to her home and found Khan trying to hide in her bedroom “between the bed frame, wall and blankets.”

Mr Fokkes said it was Khan’s first serious relationship and “he was caught up in that first rush of blood to the head”.

Khan faced Penrith Court

He added: “He understands now in the light of day that this is not acceptable.”

“He grew up in a strict Islamic household,” Mr Fokkes added, arguing that his father’s “ostracism” of his son contributed to mental health issues.

“His father now understands that taking an old school approach in a new culture is not the way to go.”

He also said there was no criminal offending by Khan previous to 2020, suggesting his criminal acts were “a reaction to the freedoms a young man receives when he leaves a cloistered world.”

Arguing for his client not to be jailed, he detailed his treatment behind bars.

“He was stabbed randomly and punctured his lung and then to be put in the same cell as the people who is stabbed him is significant,” Mr Fokkes said.

“He was left unconscious in his cell, with blood running from his nose and mouth … that’s a failure on the part of the corrective services.”

However, Magistrate Stephen Corry told the court no other alternative than imprisonment was appropriate for Khan’s intent to alter the evidence of domestic violence the victim supplied to police.

Khan was convicted of acting with the intent to influence a witness and sentenced to 17 months imprisonment, with a non-parole period of eight months.

For breaching his AVO, Khan was also convicted and sentenced to a Community Corrections Order (CCO), expiring on January 18 2023.