Richard Mununggurr Jr sentenced in Darwin Local Court for aggravated assault
After snatching his partner’s mobile phone and elbowing her in the face, the man was taken Palmerston Watch House
Northern Territory
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A Rio Tinto worker celebrated his birthday in a cell after snatching his partner’s phone and elbowing her in the face, a court has heard.
On Thursday morning at Darwin Local Court, 25 year-old Richard Mununggurr Jr pleaded guilty to aggravated assault.
The court heard that on May 11 2025, Mununggurr Jr and his partner were having a “dispute” regarding her mobile device when he ripped it from her hands.
When his partner attempted to take the device back, Mununggurr Jr threw an elbow at her, striking her in the face and causing her to bleed from the mouth.
Mununggurr Jr’s lawyer told the court her client was the “sole breadwinner of his family” and had been working for mining company Rio Tinto for two years.
During submissions, it heard Mununggurr Jr had been remanded at Palmerston Watch House where he spent his birthday in “cramped conditions”.
“It was very cold (and) did not have showers,” his lawyer said.
Judge Sally Ozolins noted Mununggurr had been found guilty of a violence offence “years ago”.
“You don’t come before the court as a first offender,” she said.
While Judge Ozolins said it was “a positive thing” Mununggurr Jr provided for his family, but maintained “belting your partner is a very objectively serious thing to do”.
“You were trying to get your own way and you used physical force.”
Judge Ozolins warned Mununggurr Jr domestic violence went beyond “just physical violence”.
“It is intimidating her, threatening her, humbugging her, coercing her, threatening to hurt (her),” she said.
“If you do any of these things that is also a criminal offence.”
Mununggurr Jr was handed a one month suspended sentence, backdated to May 11.
He was also handed a 12 month domestic violence order.
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Originally published as Richard Mununggurr Jr sentenced in Darwin Local Court for aggravated assault
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