Geelong wedding photographer Joseph Lichstein faces court for smashing girlfriend’s phone

A Geelong wedding photographer has been fined for lashing out when his girlfriend started filming him during a heated argument.

A Geelong wedding photographer has been fined for lashing out when his girlfriend started filming him during a heated argument.

Joseph Lichstein, 31, was embroiled in a dispute at his Belmont home when he grabbed his partner’s phone and smashed it on the ground.

Geelong Magistrates Court heard the ugly incident happened while Lichstein was on both a community correction order and a good behaviour bond.

Lichstein, who runs Geelong Wedding Photography, was convicted and fined a total of $3000 on Tuesday after pleading guilty to criminal damage and breaching a community correction order.

Geelong wedding photographer Joseph Lichstein. Picture: Facebook

Prosecutor Chris Capuano told the court the dispute erupted about 11am on June 17, 2020.

Lichstein had been asleep on the couch when he woke to find his girlfriend looking through his phone.

The court heard an argument ensued after Lichstein was accused of having an affair.

The victim then started filming Lichstein as he threw items around the house.

When Lichstein realised his actions were being caught on camera, he took his girlfriend’s phone and smashed it on the ground, causing it to break in two pieces.

He then left the house as his “distraught” girlfriend went to a neighbour’s home to call triple-0, the court was told.

Defence lawyer Simon Northeast said his client, who has an acquired brain injury, had struggled with an on-and-off relationship.

He said Lichstein had undergone a “major transformation” in recent months, with the photographer nailing down a full-time job as a labourer on weekdays.

The court heard Lichstein had also stopped using methamphetamine and cannabis.

“Basically, he’s turned his life around,” Mr Northeast said.

Magistrate Ann McGarvie told Lichstein his decision to use drugs only worsened the symptoms of his brain injury.

“Clearly you are going to react in abnormal ways than you would normally react,” she said.

“It certainly seems like you’re on the right track now, and that’s a positive thing, but you must stay off drugs to ensure you don’t reoffend again.”

Originally published as Geelong wedding photographer Joseph Lichstein faces court for smashing girlfriend’s phone