Father kicked daughter, throttled roommate pleads guilty at Bendigo Magistrates’ Court

A father who choked a man close to the point of death and kicked his teenage daughter in the stomach in a grief-fuelled attack is fighting to avoid jail time.

A father who choked a man close to the point of death and kicked his teenage daughter in the stomach in a grief-fuelled attack is fighting to avoid jail time.

Bendigo Magistrates’ Court heard the 45-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, smashed a bowl of cereal on the wall before charging at a man and attacking his teenage daughter at the girl’s home.

In court on Wednesday, March 3, the Melbourne father giggled nervously to himself as details of the horrific assault were read out.

The man was also facing court over drug charges after police caught him with 0.43g of methamphetamine while wandering following the assault.

The court heard the man surprised his daughter with a visit on December 3 in 2019, and had sat in kitchen and helped himself to a bowl of cereal.

The male roommate told the court the teen’s father appeared aggressive and was arguing with his daughter over a broken window.

The older man then threw the bowl of cornflakes he had been eating against the wall, smashing it, before pushing his daughter.

He then charged past the girl, grabbed the roommate by his throat and started throttling him.

The court heard the roommate later told police: “He choked me until I started to feel dizzy.”

The teen yelled at her father to let go of the roommate and started kicking the older man to make him stop.

The court was told the teen’s father then turned on his daughter, repeatedly kicking her in the stomach.

She later told police he called her an “incest dog” before leaving the home.

The police prosecutor told the court if the teen had not intervened, her father could have killed her roommate.

“People do die of this,” he said.

“If he started to go dizzy, that could have happened.”

The father’s lawyer Peter Monagle told the court his client was suffering from intense grief on the day of the attack, with his mother’s funeral scheduled two days after the assault.

Mr Monagle said the man was in a “hyper-emotional state”.

He said since the incident the father and daughter had reconciled and the disagreement had been mediated by the father’s sister.

Mr Monagle said the man had a significant criminal history, but said “Covid has slowed him down” allowing him to start a new life in Melbourne.

The man pleaded guilty to three assault charges and drug charges.

In sentencing Magistrate Patrick Southey said the attack was an “ugly scene” that would require a prison sentence despite signs the man was largely cleaning up his act.

Mr Southey said despite being familiar with the system, the ageing Indigenous man would struggle in prison.

“He would not be the king of the walk in prison, he would be on the chopping block,” Mr Southey said.

He sentenced the man to 14 days in prison and confirmed a preexisting community corrections order.

His lawyer said they would appeal the prison time, and his bail was extended until the matter could be resolved.