Nathan Trent Willey, 36, of Innisfail, sentenced for assault and strangulation

An Innisfail man strangled a woman and threatened to pour caustic soda down her throat and eye to make her ugly, a court has heard.

A MAN strangled a woman and threatened to pour caustic soda down her throat and eye to make her ugly, a court has heard.

Nathan Trent Willey, 36, of Innisfail, pleaded guilty to two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm, two counts of strangulation and one count of common assault, at Cairns District Court on Friday.

Crown Prosecutor Seamus McManus said the victim impact statement spoke of ongoing psychological harm the incident on August 4, 2021, had on her.

“The aggravating features of this case the offending was unprovoked and without warning,” he said.

Nathan Trent Willey has pleaded guilty in Cairns District Court. Picture: Facebook.

“It involved two distinct occasions of strangulation where the complainant could not breathe.”

“There was also a threat of pouring caustic soda down the throat and eye to make her ugly.”

Mr McManus said he had arranged for her to go to a hotel room.

“There was a level of planning in inviting the complainant to meet at the hotel and enforcing her with the threat to come into the room,” he said.

Photographs taken five days later showed the extent of the bruising around the eye. Mr McManus said the hotel manager heard her screaming and came to the door but Willey slammed it shut. He later made her go back and tell the manager everything was OK and to not call the police, but she did the opposite.

“There was no evidence of planning or premeditation from any evidence in my submission,”

Defence barrister Rochelle Logan said.

Cairns Courthouse. Picture: Alison Paterson

Ms Logan said Willey had family members in Innisfail willing to support him.

“He was naive when he thought he could do it on his own, he understands he can’t and he needs a structure around him to remain on the path,” she said.

“He understands his risk.”

Judge Tracy Fantin said she accepted if not for his drug use he was unlikely to commit these offences even though it was not an excuse.

“The complainant has provided a victim impact statement,” she said.

“She makes it clear she has suffered emotional harm which is ongoing. I have no doubt the incident would have been terrifying for her.”

Judge Fantin said he had shown progress in rehabilitation.

“You have a very lengthy criminal history, multiple convictions for drugs, dishonesty and property offences

Judge Fantin sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment. A total of 342 days in pre-sentence custody was declared as time served with a parole eligibility of August 5.

Originally published as Nathan Trent Willey, 36, of Innisfail, sentenced for assault and strangulation