Chhean Chorr pleads guilty in Moorabbin Court after assaulting ex-partner’s new boyfriend

A fired-up Melbourne man has let himself into his old apartment he shared with former girlfriend and attacked her new man as they lay asleep in bed.

Chhean Chorr has pleaded guilty to assault and threatening to distribute an intimate image after finding his ex-girlfriend in bed with her new partner at 2am. Image: Generic.

A man who assaulted his ex-girlfriend’s new partner and filmed them naked before threatening to release their images has told a court he regrets his actions.

Chhean Chorr, 22, pleaded guilty in Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court to assault, after bursting in on his ex-girlfriend in bed with another man in March last year.

The court heard Chorr and his ex-girlfriend had broken up weeks before the incident, leading to Chorr moving out of their shared apartment.

On the evening of the assault, Chorr entered the apartment using a spare key at 2am, finding his ex-partner naked and asleep in bed with another man.

Chorr began filming the sleeping pair, before yelling at the victim, “Who are you, why are you sleeping with my girlfriend?”

He then jumped onto the bed and started punching his victim in the face, simultaneously threatening to share the nude images of him on social media.

The victim managed to get out of the bed and put Chorr into a headlock, despite the continual barrage of punches and scratches.

The scuffle moved into the lounge room, where the victim threatened to call the police.

Chorr changed tactics, attempting to convince the victim to sign a contract saying he wouldn’t go to the police.

The victim eventually got dressed and left the apartment, before reporting the assault.

The attack left the victim with a swollen eye and multiple scratches on his back.

In a victim impact statement read to the court on Tuesday, the victim said he had been left “untrusting and paranoid to be alone, including in his own home”.

“I feel exposed and vulnerable all the time,” the court heard.

“I’ve had trouble sleeping and I’m constantly checking that my doors and windows are locked.”

The court heard the victim no longer felt safe to be out at night, and has “lost his ability to trust people,” as well as being unable to attend work in the short term because of the facial injuries he sustained in the attack.

Chorr was arrested and interviewed following the assault, where he told police he believed he was using “necessary and reasonable force to remove an intruder from his property”.

Magistrate Timothy Gattuso disagreed with the assault being characterised as necessary or reasonable, saying “he let himself in with a key when he no longer lives there”.

“He’s no longer living there, and it’s aggravated by the fact that he’s taken a video of someone naked, while they’re asleep and then threatened to distribute it while punching him in the face,” he said.

Chorr’s counsel said he had handed the key back immediately following the incident and had no further contact with his ex-girlfriend or the victim.

“This incident was caused by a lapse in judgment at 2am,” the court heard.

“He was experiencing a break-up. He has learnt his lesson and admitted guilt today and in the police interview.”

Chorr also submitted a character reference from his boss, his education history and lack of priors as evidence that this offence was completely out of character for him.

Mr Gattuso said the only reason he wouldn’t record a conviction was due to this evidence.

“It’s only because of your seemingly otherwise good character and your lack of priors that I’m willing to not record a conviction today,” he said.

“You had no right to act the way you did. I accept this was a recent break-up, but you’ve threatened to release an image and you’ve physically assaulted somebody to the point where his eye swelled up so much that he couldn’t go to work.”

Mr Gattuso sentenced Chorr to 160 hours of unpaid community work and a 12-month adjourned undertaking.

“If you’re brought back here you’ll expect a conviction and possibly a more serious penalty,” Mr Gattuso said.

“Please make sure this is a one off Mr Chorr because you won’t get another opportunity for a non-conviction.”

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