Shaun Edward O’Malley admits to assaulting woman
A child was forced to watch as her mother was choked by a Maryborough plasterer, a court has heard.
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The distressed, recorded screams of a child have been played in a Victorian courtroom, as she watched her mother being choked by a man.
The audio, broadcast during a hearing for Shaun Edward O’Malley in the County Court on Monday, was recorded while O’Malley wrapped his hands around a woman’s throat.
The woman, known to the 33-year-old, “started to gurgle” and O’Malley continued yelling, while her shocked daughter began recording on her phone.
Appearing from the Marngoneet Correctional Centre, the plasterer pleaded guilty to a string of offences, including multiple assault charges relating to incidents which took place in the Maryborough area over four years.
Prosecutor Michelle Zammit described how on one occasion O’Malley got angry about the woman he knew wearing makeup to work.
He screamed obscenities at her, including calling her a s***, the court heard, before throwing a large speaker towards her. It struck her in the head and caused her ears to ring.
As she curled up on the bed and started crying, O’Malley climbed on top of her and squeezed her throat tightly.
The court heard she told him she couldn’t breathe and begged him to stop, thinking she was going to die.
On another occasion O’Malley was in the driver’s seat of his white Holden rodeo while the woman sat in the front passenger seat.
Fastening his seatbelt, he told the woman not to buckle up before he accelerated towards a bend in the road and the car crashed into a tree.
The passenger side of the car took the impact, throwing the woman through the windscreen.
O’Malley pulled her back into the car through the smashed glass, ripping her hair from her scalp.
He did not report the crash to police, instead calling his parents to tow the car.
After another incident — where O’Malley choked the woman until she was unconscious — police searched his house and found a .22 calibre rifle in his bedroom and a box of ammunition in his bedside table, sitting next to a taser.
O’Malley — whose criminal history includes hitting a neighbour over the head with a brick — has been in custody since March 2021.
On Monday a statement written by the woman was read to the court, which described the ongoing physical, psychological and financial impacts she felt.
“My faith in the world has disappeared and I fight everyday…,” she said, describing her intense fear and anxieties.
Her daughter described how her young life was now plagued by worries and how she struggled with self-worth and trusting her own judgement.
“I initially thought he was a nice guy but then found out he was an absolute monster,” she said of O’Malley.
His defence submitted a combination sentence was in range, given O’Malley had served a burdensome 18 months in prison throughout the pandemic.
O’Malley’s mother told the court she and her husband would do “everything” to ensure their son never hurt anyone again.
“I believe he wouldn’t hurt a fly [now],” she said, adding she believed he had taken strides towards rehabilitation since in custody.
Judge Michael Cahill will sentence him at a later date.
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