Jonathan Eyles: real estate agent in brutal assault

A multi-award winning Sydney real estate agent brutalised a woman so badly police found her unconscious with her hair torn out. He then tried to tell police she assaulted him.

An award-winning Sydney real estate agent left his partner with brutal injuries after a savage drunken assault – then told police she was the aggressor.

Jonathan Eyles, 31, was a highly respected realtor formerly at prominent Sutherland Shire agency Highland Property who won the company’s Culture Award in 2020 and was Rate My Agent’s 2021 Agent of the Year for Como, Jannali and Oyster Bay.

But behind the warm facade and corporate success, his partner has told police he has privately waged a campaign of violence and abuse against her for two years.

Eyles called triple-0 after a drunken argument with his partner late on January 13 after he returned home from a Caringbah pub hours later than planned.

Agreed facts tendered to Sutherland Local Court state when police arrived at the pair’s Caringbah address, his partner was unconscious on the floor with her hair ripped out and a broken wine glass at her side.

“The victim had bruising to her left arm, bruising and red marks around her face and neck, bruises to her right knee, a lump and pain to the back of her head and bruising and a puncture wound on her right arm,” police facts state.

Jonathan Eyles (right), 30, leaves Sutherland Local Court on January 19 2022.

“The victim doesn’t remember the exact order these assaults occurred but she remembers being thrown onto the ground at one stage, being grabbed around the right arm at one stage and being grabbed by the face at one stage.”

However, when police noticed scratch marks to Eyles’ face, he told police “she just gets aggressive” and “she tried to scratch me and that was it”.

After Eyles’ partner was briefly hospitalised due to her intoxication, she was arrested by Sutherland police and taken into custody on the premise she was the aggressor towards Eyles.

Police began to interview the woman in the process of seeking an apprehended violence order against her to protect Eyles when she finally opened up about the violence she had long suffered at Eyles’ hands.

“Throughout the interview the victim said Eyles had been getting physical with her for around two years,” agreed police facts state.

“The victim said when Eyles drinks while being on his bipolar medication, he gets very ‘manic’ and aggressive, and the victim outlined to police that the accused physically assaulted her on multiple occasions through the night.”

Eyles and his partner had been engaged for a year.

The woman told police she had never told anyone about the violence because she “covers for” Eyles and he is already “unwell”.

“The victim said she has never told anyone about the accused assaulting her,” police facts state.

“Police obtained a statement which outlined that she consented to the (video) interview being used as her victim statement in court and she was prepared to give evidence in court.”

The police facts state Eyles told police they were both heavily intoxicated during the argument but his partner was the physical aggressor in the situation, and her injuries were as a result of him defending himself.

However, police determined the woman’s injuries were consistent with her version of events and Eyles then admitted to pulling her hair before he was charged with assault causing actual bodily harm.

At his first appearance at Sutherland Local Court on January 19, Eyles pleaded guilty to the charge and consented to an apprehended violence order preventing him from harming her or attending any place where she lives or works.

His solicitor Ted Bramble sought a full sentencing assessment report after describing the facts as “disturbing” and Magistrate Melissa Humphreys adjourned the matter for sentence on March 16.