Sydney father punched teenage son at four-year-old’s party
A southern Sydney father who grabbed his teenage son by the throat and punched him flew into a rage because his child called him a “dickhead”. He pleaded guilty to common assault in court.
St George Shire Standard
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A southern Sydney father who grabbed his teenage son by the throat and punched him flew into a rage because his child called him a “dickhead”.
The 45-year-old Sutherland man pleaded guilty at Sutherland Court to common assault after he attacked his 13-year-old son in a drunken fury at his daughter’s fourth birthday celebration.
He was sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order.
The man, his friend and his son were at his ex-girlfriend’s Jannali home for the party when the assault occurred on May 5.
The boy had begged the man to take him home after realising his father was drunk before calling him a “dickhead”.
“He put his left hand around my throat while I was sitting on the couch in the corner,” the boy told police in a statement tendered to the court.
“He squeezed a little bit then let go because (his ex-girlfriend) got in between us.”
The man then asked his son what his problem was before the boy told him he was being “obnoxious, rude and annoying” because he was drunk.
“He grabbed me by the jumper collar near my jaw and I felt like he punched me,” the boy said.
“I felt his knuckles hit my jaw.”
The man mocked his crying son by making faces at him before telling him he was “an embarrassment to this family”.
The man was also convicted of contravening an apprehended violence order against his ex-girlfriend by attending her home that night.
The ex-girlfriend had pleaded with the man to leave after the son messaged her from inside the house and asked her to tell him to get in a cab and go home.
The boy told police his father had been drinking beer with his friend since 5pm before the assault just before 9pm.
Magistrate Jayeann Carney told the man his domestic violence matters were serious in sentencing.
“Breaching the AVO diminishes the authority of the court,” Ms Carney said.
“People think ‘oh, it’s just an AVO, it doesn’t matter, I’m going to throw it in the bin’ - but it is undeniably important.”