Man sentenced for shovel attack after finding wife and brother in car, while their mother sat in front

A man has been sentenced for a shovel attack after he discovered his wife and brother having sex in a car, while their mother sat quietly in the front seat. Here’s how it unfolded.

A shovel. Picture: Brad Fleet

A man who discovered his wife and brother having sex in the back of a car, while his mother sat in the front seat, has been sentenced for his violent reaction to the “morally provocative” scene, after he hit his brother with a shovel.

David McCulloch, 41, pleaded guilty to one count of committing an unlawful act intended to cause bodily harm and one count of criminal code assault.

He was also found guilty of two counts of common assault in relation to his mother and his wife.

McCulloch had been in a relationship with Jacinta King for 25 years, they’d been married for six years and they had four children together.

Justice Tamara Jago said on March 28, 2024, Ms King and Mr McCulloch’s mother had gone to pick up Mr McCulloch’s older brother, Jamie, 44.

Justice Jago said after collecting him, the three drove to some units and remained in the vehicle while the older brother had sex with Ms King.

During this time, Justice Jago said the younger brother had attempted to contact his wife, and had grown suspicious when he could not reach her.

After driving to the area where the car was parked, he discovered the betrayal.

“You observed your wife and brother having sexual intercourse in the back seat, whilst your mother sat in the front seat, apparently unperturbed by your wife and brother’s behaviour,” Justice Jago said.

“You opened the rear, driver’s side door and started punching your brother multiple times to the head and to the body.

“You then pushed your wife into the window before moving to the rear passenger side door, opening it, and punching your wife to the head several times.”

Justice Jago said the older brother got out of the vehicle and ran.

“I note at this point you had the opportunity to pause and reflect upon what you were doing. Instead, you yelled out that you were going to kill them all,” she said.

“You retrieved a wooden handled shovel from the back of your vehicle.

“You approached your brother and hit him to the head and body several times with the shovel.

“Your mother intervened. You pushed her to the chest, causing her to fall backwards into a wheelie bin.”

McCulloch then hit his wife with the handle of the shovel and punched her in the face.

He was later apprehended by police, who were tipped off by nearby residents.

“When interviewed by police, you expressed your frustration and angst over the situation you found when you attended at the carpark, and in essence you suggested your brother deserved it,” Justice Jago said.

The brother and wife were taken to the Mersey Community Hospital, the brother sustaining bruising and lacerations to his face and legs, while the wife suffered bruising and swelling underneath her right eye and a split lip.

Justice Jago said the younger McCulloch brother’s reaction was spontaneous after discovering a “difficult” situation involving a “breach of trust”.

“I accept, the circumstances you discovered were confronting,” she said.

“The betrayal by your wife and brother, and the apparent acquiescence of your mother, must have been upsetting, and whilst one can appreciate that would give rise to a level of angst and frustration, it in no way excuses what you then did.

‘It does, however, place your behaviour into a specific context.”

He was fined $1000 and sentenced to three years in prison, backdated to May.

The last 18 months of the prison sentence was wholly suspended and he won’t be eligible for parole until he’s served half the operative prison period.

Originally published as Man sentenced for shovel attack after finding wife and brother in car, while their mother sat in front