Judge blasts DV offender Thomas O’Regan for attacks on girlfriend

A man who has worked in the mining industry and at one stage ran a roofing business, has been labelled “such a pig” by a judge for his domestic violence assaults.

Thomas Ross O’Regan was sentenced in the District Court at Gladstone.

A judge has described a man who carried out a series of violent assaults on his girlfriend, including punching her in the face and slamming a car door on her head, as “such a pig”.

Thomas Ross O’Regan, 40, was sentenced in the District Court at Gladstone after pleading guilty to three counts of assault occasioning bodily harm (domestic violence offences) and five counts of common assault (DV offences).

The court heard the victim was O’Regan’s then partner and they had now separated, with the offending happening over a two-year period.

On one occasion, O’Regan was drunk and abused the woman before grabbing her hair to the point where he tore about a handful of it out.

O’Regan then grabbed her by the shirt, threw her to the ground, and punched her in the mouth.

He then grabbed her arms and shirt, and dragged her outside the residence, before picking her up and pushing her back inside.

O’Regan apologised to the woman but she sent photos of her injuries to another person who came to get her and take her away.

The pair reconciled and later, following another argument, O’Regan went to the woman’s residence and punched her in the face through a screen door.

This caused a cut above her eye.

Thomas Ross O’Regan.

On another occasion, O’Regan went to the woman’s home and smashed the kitchen window with his fist - the glass cutting the woman’s face in the process.

In a separate incident, O’Regan belittled and verbally abused the woman in public before grabbing her dress and ripping it.

He also pulled a necklace from her neck and then bit her on the thigh.

People tried to intervene but O’Regan told them it was just his “crazy” girlfriend and not to call the police.

When the pair got home, O’Regan slammed a car door on the woman’s head.

The attack continued inside the house where O’Regan yelled, slammed her against a wall, and lifted her off the ground while grabbing her neck.

O’Regan then forced the woman against a wall and put his hand over her mouth and nose.

In a later incident, O’Regan again threw the woman against a wall, held her by the jaw and put his hand over her mouth and nose.

Judge Clarke described what O’Regan did as “shameful.”

“You treated your former partner with disdain and considerable intimidation and violence, and were completely ignorant and uncaring to the harm that you were causing to her... over a period of about two years. ”

O’Regan was arrested and spent time in pre-sentence custody before getting bail.

The court heard that O’Regan’s criminal history included prior domestic violence offending against another aggrieved.

A barrister said O’Regan grew up in Townsville, completed secondary schooling at Bowen, and had “an excellent work history despite his problems.”

The court heard O’Regan was a father, had worked as a roofer, in the mining industry and at one stage ran a roofing business at the Sunshine Coast.

The barrister said binge drinking had played a part in O’Regan’s offending.

Judge Clarke noted O’Regan had not got rehabilitation and the barrister said he had nothing to put before the court in terms of rehab.

Judge Clarke added: “What immediately struck me as odd was that there’d been no effort to address the obvious offending pathway as a perpetrator of domestic violence.”

Judge Clarke said O’Regan’s latest offending was “a clear escalation” and he had been “such a pig” towards his domestic partner.

“I am concerned about your prospects for rehabilitation having regard to the fact that you’ve made absolutely no effort it seems, apart from not reoffending, to address your offending pathway,” Judge Clarke said.

“It seems to me that you’ve had a propensity to commit acts of domestic violence - it seems clear from your conduct here and your past conduct.

“And those factors usually are a good indicator of future behaviour.”

On July 11, Judge Clarke declared 146 days’ pre-sentence custody as time already served and sentenced O’Regan to two-and-a-half years’ jail, suspended for an operational period of four years.

Originally published as Judge blasts DV offender Thomas O’Regan for attacks on girlfriend