Impact Realty Group estate agent Matthew Carroll assaulted woman
He’s well-known for clinching deals in the word of real estate. But behind closed doors, booze and stress turned this Peninsula man into a monster.
South East
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A Peninsula real estate agent blamed the stresses of COVID-19 lockdown and alcohol for a booze-fuelled fight with his partner.
Matthew Robert Carroll, a director at Impact Realty Group, assaulted the woman in a drunken fracas after she had requested he stop sending emails and help her with the cooking.
Carroll, 42 of Mornington, pleaded guilty to assault and criminal damage charges at the online Frankston Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
The court heard at around 6.30pm on August 18 last year a verbal argument between Carroll and his partner started over him not helping her with food preparation.
She began to film him and he became angry, grabbing her phone and smashing it on the ground.
He then picked up the phone and walked outside, and she locked him out.
Carroll then banged on the door and he came back inside, but he refused to return the woman’s phone.
He wrestled with her, pushed her to the ground and tore her shirt.
She managed to get away from him and, in a petrified state, ran to a neighbour to call police as her phone, which she now had back, was broken.
He left, with police finding him at a Rye address the next morning.
He made partial admissions to what had happened the night before saying he was angry that he was being filmed but he didn’t intend to break her phone.
Carroll’s defence lawyer said her client was stressed due to the pandemic and it was the strain of this combined with alcohol that led to the offending.
She said he replaced the phone and has attended a men’s behaviour change program.
Magistrate Dr Michael King told Carroll it was not acceptable to blame the pandemic or alcohol for his violence.
“I accept you were under stress last year, everyone was under stress in lockdown,” Dr King said.
“You are responsible, you make choices, you chose to engage in damage and assault.
“Alcohol is no excuse, nor is COVID.”
He said if he engaged in that sort of behaviour again he was at risk of going to prison.
Carroll was fined $1500, with no conviction recorded.
