Blake Paul Etienne strangles woman before trying to throw her into traffic on Gold Coast

The woman “saw stars, gasped for air”. Moments later, her attacker tried to throw her into traffic.

A GOLD Coast man strangled a woman so hard she almost passed out and he then tried to throw her into traffic.

Blake Paul Etienne also threatened to kill the woman during a drunken rage attack which was sparked over music and noise.

Etienne cried and looked distressed when he pleaded guilty in the Southport District Court on Thursday to six charges including strangulation, assault occasioning bodily harm and threatening violence.

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Blake Etienne strangled a woman so hard she saw stars and lost control of her bladder. Picture: iStock

Judge David Kent sentenced Etienne to three years prison with parole release on Thursday.

The 28-year-old has spent the past 10 months in custody.

Judge Kent said the usual rule upon a guilty plea was to serve 12 months but reduced it to 10 months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“You, and everyone else in the prison system is suffering a greater burden than normal and that is a future that feeds into a prison sentence and has always fed into the sentencing process where it is going to be more onerous than usual,” he said.

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The court was told horrifying details of the prolonged attack on the woman on June 15 last year soon after she had finished work.

Etienne, who was drunk, berated the woman’s appearance and they then got into an argument about music and noise.

The former furniture removalist struggled with the woman and got her onto the floor and was on top of her when he started to squeeze her neck.

The attack started when the pair began arguing over music.

“The strangulation was such that she saw stars, gasped for air,” prosecutor Kathleen Christopherson said.

He then threatened to kill her.

The woman managed to escape and ran into the street.

“He tried to throw her into passing cars and was yelling that if she died, he died too,” she said.

He also tried to throw the woman into passing traffic. Photo: istock

The court was told a passer-by tried to intervene but the woman told him not to.

She was taken to hospital with soft tissue injuries around her eyes and bruising and redness around her neck.

“The complainant feels a lot of guilt as a result of this offending as he has spent 10 months in custody,” Ms Christopherson said.

“The whole event was obviously very upsetting for her and particularly hard for her to live with.”

The attack has also caused the woman to have ringing in her ears.

The court was told Etienne had a furniture removal business which failed early last year.

After losing his company he had been drinking to excess and using recreational drugs.