Joseph Purcell, 24, faces Bendigo Magistrates’ Court charged with vicious choking assault of Bendigo woman

A wannabe paramedic who choked a Bendigo woman to the “point of unconsciousness” told a court if he was convicted he wouldn’t be able to get his dream job.

Joseph Purcell pleaded guilty at Bendigo Magistrates’ Court to assaulting a woman.

A wannabe paramedic who choked a Bendigo woman to the “point of unconsciousness” told a court if he was convicted he wouldn’t be able to get his dream job.

Joseph Purcell, 24, pleaded guilty at Bendigo Magistrates Court on Tuesday to the horrific display of violence that left his victim with bruises on her neck and face.

Purcell, who lived and worked in Bendigo as an Ambulance Victoria Community Officer and now lives in Warrnambool where he is studying to become a paramedic sat in court with his arm in a sling as his abuse was laid bare.

Joseph Purcell.

On April 23 in Bendigo, after days of heavy drinking, Purcell started insulting the victim’s stepfather, calling him a “child molester” on the day of his funeral — plastic cup of beer in hand, the court heard.

Distraught, the victim walked over to take the plastic cup of beer out of his hand.

Enraged, Purcell grabbed the victim around the neck with his arm, flinging her to the floor.

He then “straddled” her while she was face down and started choking her.

She tried to scream, but couldn’t breath and started to panic.

Purcell choked the woman to the “point of unconsciousness”, the court heard.

Purcell then flipped his victim over and roughly covered her mouth and nose with his hand.

The victim thrashed side to side, crying and panicking and begging him to stop, desperately trying to escape.

When he finally released her, she fled the house in her pyjamas and drove to Bendigo police station.

Officers found her with bruises on her neck and face from Purcell’s vicious assault and she was hospitalised overnight.

Police found the woman “extremely distressed” following the assault.

Shortly after, police went to Purcell’s house and found him asleep surrounded by eight empty beer cans.

He was arrested and taken to the station for questioning, where he was “argumentative” when police outlined the allegations of the assault, calling them “total s--t”.

On Tuesday, Purcell’s lawyer claimed the offender was remorseful and understood how serious his crimes were, asking Magistrate Megan Aumair for a lenient sentence without conviction.

The court heard if Purcell was convicted he would not be able to become a paramedic, and he was three years into a four-year course to become one.

Purcell’s lawyer tendered character references from Ambulance Victoria in Bendigo where he was a community officer and the Red Cross in Warrnambool where he was a volunteer patient transport driver.

But Ms Aumair dismissed Purcell’s plea for mercy, saying the “starting point” for his violet act was jail, and he was “worthy of a term of imprisonment” after choking the victim to the “point of unconsciousness”.

“(The victim) could have died from what occurred,” she told the court.

Ms Aumair said Purcell needed to show he was “committed to change” if he didn’t want to be placed in custody, ordering an assessment to see what risk Purcell posed in the future.

Purcell will be sentenced on February 29.