Melbourne man allegedly bashes wife for using her phone in bed

A Melbourne woman allegedly bashed by her drunk husband called her sister in tears. But it was acting on the sister’s advice that allegedly again put her in harm’s way.

A drunk who allegedly bashed his wife, choked her and threatened to kill her while she cowered in bed next to him has been released from jail.

But Werribee Magistrates’ Court heard on Friday, February 19, that it was the advice of the alleged victim’s own sister — who told her to apologise to her husband and go back to him — that allegedly put her in harm’s way again.

Patrick Parsons, 35, was sloshed and later couldn’t even say how much he’d drunk before the alleged assault on February 7, a police prosecutor told the court.

Parsons was lying in bed with his wife when he allegedly grabbed her hands as she scrolled through her phone and allegedly pushed her fingers back, causing her to cry out in pain.

He called her names and allegedly pulled her hair and threw her to the ground before he allegedly told her he wanted to kill her.

Parsons then allegedly grabbed his wife and put her in a headlock and placed his hand around her throat before he allegedly threw her to the ground again and kicked her twice.

But it was when the woman crawled back to bed — after tearfully having called her sister for advice — that she was allegedly put in more danger.

Acting on her sister’s suggestion to apologise and patch things up with her husband, she attempted to soothe Parsons, who simply became further enraged.

He then pushed her onto the bed and allegedly choked her.

Magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz told the court Parsons’ charges were a serious example of alleged family violence.

His lawyer, Callum Rose, told the court his client wanted to stop drinking and had found his time behind bars a “sobering” experience.

Ms Mykytowycz said Parsons was a strongly built man and photos of his wife showed she was of much smaller stature.

“You are a strong gentleman, I can see that from the (video) link, and I can see the injuries on your wife,” Ms Mykytowycz said.

But she granted Parsons bail, telling the court there was no previous reported history of family violence within the household, he had no recent criminal history and would live with his mother in Trafalgar, far away from the family home he shared with his wife and their young child. The matter was adjourned for March 23.

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