Damian Joel Buckley pleads guilty at Gympie to domestic violence

A Qld labourer who met his victim on an online dating platform turned into the violent boyfriend of nightmares with his chilling campaign of control and threats continuing even while he was locked up. *Distressing.

A Gunalda labourer’s vile campaign of domestic abuse against his partner, including choking and threatening to shoot her, did not stop even when he was arrested for deliberately crashing their car into a concrete wall, a court has heard.

Damian Joel Buckley’s vile treatment of his partner across more than two years finally came to a close on Monday when he faced justice in Gympie District Court on nine charges.

Crown Prosecutor Alex Stark told the court Buckley met his partner on an online dating site.

During the relationship the 32-year-old’s actions went from coercive control to physical violence, becoming a campaign of physical abuse of his partner which unfolded across about six months from September 2020 to March 2021.

In October 2020 the 32-year-old slapped her on the face forcefully, then threw a motorcycle helmet through a television.

Damian Joel Buckley leaves Gympie District Court on March 31, 2025 after pleading guilty to domestic violence charges.

Shortly before Christmas the same year Buckley and his victim were arguing when he grabbed her by her hair and pulled her to the ground saying “you just don’t know when to shut your f-----g mouth, do you?” and “you want to f-----g tell me what I can and can’t do, c--t?”, the court heard.

He then pulled a homemade handgun out and first “jamming” it in her mouth while verbally abusing her, before putting it against her head and asking if she wanted to be shot.

The court heard the gun was capable of firing and had a “sensitive” trigger.

He then choked her, leaving her unable to breathe.

In early 2021 Buckley choked her again, this time while they were travelling in a car and arguing about what to have for dinner.

The court heard she passed out.

When she woke up, he taunted her, accusing her of pretending to lose consciousness to embarrass Buckley in front of his friends who were in the back seats.

Damian Joel Buckley pleaded guilty to three counts of assault occasioning bodily harm, two counts of choking in a domestic setting, and individual counts of wilful damage, dangerous conduct with a weapon, dangerous operation of a vehicle with previous similar convictions, and using a carriage service to menace.

In January of the same year Buckley also headbutted her in the face during an argument, knocking her out.

In February he punched her in the mouth while they were in the car together.

In March 2021 Buckley and his victim were driving on the Bruce Highway at Chatsworth when they started arguing.

The 32-year-old started driving erratically, and then deliberately crashed into a concrete barrier on the roadside.

She had to be free by first responders but only suffered soft tissue injuries.

Buckley was then arrested and over the next 18 months carried out a campaign of harassment against her from the Maryborough Correctional Centre.

This included 80 phone conversations with her in which he abused her, and leaving 70 voicemails.

The court heard Buckley was set to go to trial over the charges until a “plea bargain” was struck with the prosecutors, in which several more charges were dropped in exchange for his guilty plea to these charges.

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Buckley was arrested in March 2021 but over the next 18 months he carried out a campaign of harassment against his partner from the Maryborough Correctional Centre. Photo: Robyne Cuerel / Fraser Coast Chronicle

Buckley’s lawyer told the court his client left school after Year 7, and had experienced abuse when he was a child.

He started using marijuana when he was a teenager before moving on to other drugs and was abusing meth during the relationship, the court heard.

The 32-year-old had spent time working as a landscaper, helping clear land on a farm.

Damian Joel Buckley pleaded guilty to three counts of assault occasioning bodily harm, two counts of choking in a domestic setting, and individual counts of wilful damage, dangerous conduct with a weapon, dangerous operation of a vehicle with previous similar convictions, and using a carriage service to menace.

Judge Glen Cash accepted his pleas and lambasted the 32-year-old for his “cowardly” and “selfish” behaviour.

He said Buckley had a “substantial criminal history” which included drug offending, dangerous operation of a vehicle, break-and-enter, and drug trafficking.

Judge Cash sentenced Buckley to six years’ jail with immediate parole eligibility on account of his having already spent 742 days in pre-sentence custody.

Originally published as Damian Joel Buckley pleads guilty at Gympie to domestic violence