Nathan Conway jailed at Gladstone for strangling woman

A Central Queensland man has been jailed for his latest domestic violence offending where he punched a woman twice in the head before strangling her.

Nathan Tayler Conway, 29, was jailed in the District Court at Gladstone after pleading guilty to domestic violence offences. Generic image.

A Central Queensland man who was struggling with drug use when he strangled his partner has been jailed.

Nathan Tayler Conway, 29, was sentenced in Gladstone District Court after pleading guilty to charges including assault occasioning bodily harm and strangulation (both domestic violence offences).

The court heard Conway’s offending happened in April last year and the victim was his then 27-year-old partner.

The pair had been in a relationship together for eight years.

The court was told that on April 27, the woman was asleep in bed and Conway woke her.

She became annoyed at Conway, shoved him, and told him to go away and leave her alone.

Conway then punched her twice in the right eye “with force”.

The woman suffered a haematoma to her right eyelid and swelling around her eye.

The court heard Conway then climbed on top of the woman and, while holding her down with one arm, he put his other arm on her throat.

He applied pressure to the woman’s neck for about five to 10 seconds and she was unable to breathe.

Conway then temporarily released the pressure which briefly allowed her to breathe again.

He then reapplied the pressure before eventually moving his arm off the woman’s neck.

Gladstone Courthouse.

The court was told the woman fought against Conway during the strangulation, scratching his face and neck and kicking him.

And during the moments she could breathe, she told him she “was sorry”.

After the attack and with slightly distorted vision, the woman got out of bed and hid in the bathroom where she called emergency services.

The court heard Conway had a five-page criminal history which included five prior convictions for domestic violence offending.

After this latest offending, he had spent 292 days in pre-sentence custody - 223 of which were declarable.

Barrister Julie Marsden said Conway had experienced a “difficult and disruptive” childhood.

She said he started using cannabis at the age of 14 before his use escalated to more serious drugs which he eventually stopped taking.

“He lost his job, his house and his (driver’s) licence and that contributed to the relapse of (drug) use more recently,” Ms Marsden said.

She said Conway, who previously worked at a solar farm, had relocated to Gladstone in 2022 with the female victim in this matter.

Ms Marsden said Conway was struggling with drug use at the time of this offending and he was “deeply sorry” for what he had done to this woman.

She said he accepted the relationship was now over.

Judge Amanda McDonnell sentenced Conway to two years and nine months’ jail, declared 223 days’ pre-sentence custody as time already served, with parole eligibility at June 5, 2025.

Convictions were recorded.

Originally published as Nathan Conway jailed at Gladstone for strangling woman