Former paint warehouse manager jailed on domestic violence charges

A Cairns warehouse manager whose “unrelenting” intimidation of his partner escalated to kill threats with a fishing knife, has been described by a magistrate as one of the worst cases of coercive control he has seen.

James Lieu Thaiday, 29, pleaded guilty to 15 charges in Cairns Magistrates Court, including breaching his bail and wilful damage. Stock image

A Cairns warehouse manager whose “unrelenting” intimidation of his partner escalated to kill threats with a fishing knife, has been described by a magistrate as one of the worst cases of coercive control he has seen.

James Lieu Thaiday, 29, pleaded guilty to 15 charges in Cairns Magistrates Court, including breaching his bail and wilful damage, and was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment by Magistrate Jakub Lodziak.

The court was told Thaiday’s partner of 10 years returned home after the death of her sister on February 12 this year and he began to subject her to “intimidating, persistent and controlling” behaviour.

Magistrate Lodziak described the scenes that played out in the following days as one of the worst examples of coercive control he had seen.

The court was told Thaiday smashed his partner’s mobile phone and, when she became upset and tried to leave, he filmed her outside their house, narrating in the recording that she was “crazy”.

Thaiday persistently “terrorised” his partner over three weeks, Cairns Magistrates Court has been told. Image: Facebook

The court was told Thaiday persistently “terrorised” his partner over three weeks between February and March 2025, despite her pleas for him to leave and police intervention.

His behaviour escalated on March 6 when he following her on a public road and threatened to “slice her up” with a silver fishing knife he pulled from his pocket.

“He has the police telling him to stop and he doesn’t. He has the court telling him to stop and he doesn’t. He has her telling him to stop. He doesn’t. Not only does he not stop, he thinks he can continue to escalate, pull out a knife and threaten to ‘slice her up’,” Magistrate Lodziak said.

“This has to be one of the worst examples of coercive control.

“It is what he is saying that is concerning – ‘why are you doing this to me’? She’s doing nothing but trying to stay away from his control and the abuse he is subjecting her to, but he is turning around as if it is her fault,” he said.

Magistrate Lodziak said the behaviour was even more concerning as it occurred when his partner, and the mother of his children, had returned to the family home after the death of her sister.

Thaiday’s lawyer told the court his client was ashamed of himself and wishes he could take back his behaviour.

Defence solicitor Connor Davey said Thaiday was ashamed of himself and wished he could take back everything he had done, including stealing from his former employer, Wholesale Paint Group, charges to which he also pleaded guilty.

“Instead of embracing (his partner) when she returned, out of his stress, he has not calmed down, embraced her and cared for her, but behaved incredibly poorly and he is ashamed of himself for his actions,” Mr Davey said.

In relation to the charges of stealing $654 as a servant, Mr Davey told the court Thaiday was a valued, trusted and long-term employee who had worked his way up to a warehouse manager position, but had been desperate at the time.

“His employers were in tears (when he was let go) because he was the last person they expected to do this,” he said.

He asked Magistrate Lodziak to consider an earlier parole release date because of his remorse, early guilty please and on compassionate grounds — his mother is in palliative cancer care.

Magistrate Lodziak took into account the 99 days Thaiday had spent in custody on remand and all matters, and set a parole release date of July 5, 2025 for his 16-month jail sentence.

Originally published as Former paint warehouse manager jailed on domestic violence charges