Zane Alchin: Caringbah man sentenced for domestic violence charges

A man who denied dumping ice cream on the head of the alleged victim, as well as choking, headbutting, and threatening to kill his former partner, has been hit with jail time for several charges.

Zane Alchin. Picture: John Grainger

A man responsible for horrific acts of domestic violence against his former partner has been jailed for 18 months, after a magistrate concluded “assaults against women cannot be tolerated”.

Zane Alchin, 32, was found guilty of four charges, including assault and stalk/intimidate, following a hearing at Downing Centre Local Court. He was found not guilty of 11 charges, including choking without consent.

The Caringbah man had pleaded guilty on Tuesday to using his phone to harass and menace the victim.

The hearing began in February with witnesses giving evidence and the complainant gave her evidence. The complainant was cross examined on Tuesday before Alchin took the stand.

The court heard Alchin was in a romantic relationship with the alleged victim from October 2021 to July 2022.

Zane Alchin during a previous court appearance. Picture: AAP Image/Joel Carrett

He claimed he used to stay at his partner’s house up to five nights a week while they were together, and the relationship was often involved arguments he said were often sparked by “jealousy”.

Alchin, in cross examination on Wednesday, told the court it “wasn’t uncommon” for he and his former girlfriend to argue but that “it never got physical”.

When giving evidence, the 32-year-old had denied choking and headbutting the woman, damaging her laptop, dumping a McDonald’s ice cream on her head and threatening to kill her.

He repeatedly claimed his partner was “jealous”, which he said was the cause of many of their arguments.

Police prosecutor Stu Coote told the court video tendered to court contained audio of the complainant screaming “get off me” in one of the incidents.

Mr Coote said witness testimony from neighbours corroborated the woman’s claims, including a case where a neighbour drove Alchin home because Mr Coote contended he was in an “aggressive state”.

Zane Alchin previously appeared at Newtown court. Picture: John Grainger

Alchin’s lawyer Wayne Russell said his client’s evidence had “an air of reliability” and “believability” and used his concluding statements to suggest the complainant’s version of events could not be relied on by the court.

Magistrate Derek Price said in sentencing the matter the burden was not on Alchin to prove his innocence but for “the court to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt”.

Magistrate Price said the maximum penalty for the charges was five years imprisonment.

Mr Price found Alchin guilty and convicted him for three counts of assault, one count of stalk/intimidate and for using a phone to harass.

The magistrate found Alchin not guilty of five counts of common assault, one count of assault occasioning bodily harm, two counts of choking, one count destroy or damage property, one count using a phone to threaten to kill and one count of stalk/intimidate.

Magistrate Price sentenced him to a combined term of imprisonment of 18 months with a non-parole period backdated to July 5, 2022 and fined him $600 for the harassment using a phone. An apprehended violence order was made for three years to protect the victim.

Alchin will be eligible for parole from June 4.