Calum Nathan Boggs choked and assaulted his partner after drink driving

A man gave police a “self-serving version of events” after choking his partner and assaulting her in his vehicle as she tried to stop him drink driving.

Calum Nathan Boggs, 27, pleaded guilty on December 6 in Rockhampton District Court to one count of choking (domestic violence offence), one of assault occasioning bodily harm (DV offence) and four breaches of a domestic violence order.

A man who gave police a “self-serving version of events” after choking his partner and assaulting her as she tried to stop him drink driving, claiming his hand may have slipped to her throat.

Calum Nathan Boggs, 27, pleaded guilty on December 6 in Rockhampton District Court to one count of choking (domestic violence offence), one of assault occasioning bodily harm (DV offence) and four breaches of a domestic violence order.

Crown prosecutor Maryam Yousufzai said Boggs had been in a relationship with the victim for a year before the offences which took place in early 2022.

She said Boggs and the victim had been drinking alcohol at a party when Boggs suddenly left.

Ms Yousufzai said there was an argument via SMS after she messaged asking why he left suddenly, leaving her at the party and in a position where she was concerned about her safety.

She said the victim went to his Kawana, Rockhampton, residence to collect her belongings and then went to her place.

Ms Yousufzai said Boggs drove to the victim’s place and accused her of stealing his alcohol, screamed and yelled at her, swore at her and started to leave.

She said the victim hopped in Boggs’s vehicle, concerned about him driving after drinking alcohol all day and she noticed there was alcohol in his car.

Calum Nathan Boggs, 27, pleaded guilty on December 6 in Rockhampton District Court to one count of choking (domestic violence offence), one of assault occasioning bodily harm (DV offence) and four breaches of a domestic violence order.

She said Boggs told the victim to “get the f--- out” of his car.

“He pushed his hand around her throat,” Ms Yousufzai said.

“She held onto the seat and dashboard.”

She said Boggs pushed the victim against the car door window that was down and choked her for five to six seconds, releasing pressure that allowed her to breathe and then choked her again.

“At some point, she lost consciousness briefly,” Ms Yousufzai said.

She said the victim believes she may have blacked out twice.

Ms Yousufzai said after releasing his choking grip, Boggs kicked the victim out of his car.

“He ended up on the passenger seat, picked her up and threw her out of the car and onto the ground,” she said.

Ms Yousufzai said Boggs drove off, leaving the victim in a torn dress with injuries including cuts to her hands along with bruises on her upper arms, a knee, an elbow and her neck and a cut along her jawline.

She said when talking with police, Boggs gave a “self-serving version of events”, claiming “his hand may have slipped up to her throat”.

Ms Yousufzai said when shown photographs of her injuries, Boggs told police “she bruises easily”.

She said he did express some remorse by saying he couldn’t believe he had done that to the victim.

Defence barrister Maree Willey said Boggs’s childhood had been “somewhat unstable” and transient with his parents separating when he was young, living in two states and drugs and alcohol featured in both homes.

“He is not a drug user himself,” she clarified.

She said he had been employed since leaving school in year 10 but didn’t work for two years after a car accident in 2017 due to injuries and had worked in roofing for 10 months prior to being incarcerated for this offending.

Calum Nathan Boggs

Judge Jeff Clarke said the victim blaming Boggs carried out “was consistent with the way his brain works”.

He said the victim’s impact statement outlined that she had been struggling, “she’s lost her enjoyment in life” and she suffered physically and emotionally from the attack.

“She feels that her sense of fear and lack of security is irrational,” Judge Clarke said.

He said she had nightmares and sleep disturbance and “she has put herself in the predicament where she questions herself; whether she’s making safe choices”.

“She experiences panic attacks, she’s lost the will to continue on with doing any sort of work,” Judge Clarke said.

He told Boggs he should consider not drinking alcohol while subject to parole.

“I’m not saying that alcohol has made you do this, but certainly it’s been well known to be something that does inhibit people,” Judge Clarke said.

He also encouraged Boggs to “talk to someone about his childhood as a possible root cause to what happened here”.

Judge Clarke sentenced Boggs to three years prison, declared 277 presentence custody with immediate parole release.

Originally published as Calum Nathan Boggs choked and assaulted his partner after drink driving