Zac Wilson: Tennant Creek thug jailed for breaking ex’s arm as family cops a spray from judge

A Tennant Creek man has been jailed for breaking and shattering both bones in his ex-partner’s forearm with a metal fan. The victim has since been hounded out of town by the DV thug’s family.

Zac Wilson’s victim has been hounded out of Tennant Creek by the defendant’s irate family, who blame her for the imprisonment of one of their own. Picture: Jason Walls

A Tennant Creek man has been jailed for using a metal fan to strike his ex-partner’s arm with such force it broke and splintered her ulna and radius, the two bones that make up the human forearm.

Zac Wilson, 26, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory at Darwin to one count each of unlawfully causing serious harm and contravening a domestic violence order.

Both offences were committed on January 29 this year, Wilson’s sentencing hearing before Chief Justice Michael Grant on September 10 heard.

Chief Justice Michael Grant, depicted upon his ascension to the role in 2016. Picture: File

The court heard Wilson became sloshed on beer and bourbon at a local pub before taking himself to the house he formerly shared with his ex-partner, who was there drinking with her sister.

An argument about money ensued, from which the sister fled, and there was a physical altercation, leading the woman to fall and strike her head on a door, causing a laceration which began to bleed.

On the ground, the woman reached for a metal fan to defend herself, but Wilson wrenched it from her and swung it at her.

She raised her arm to defend herself, so that the limb took the full force of the blow, which broke and shattered both her ulna and radius.

She was medically evacuated to Alice Springs for surgery, the court heard.

Wilson was arrested the following week, when police found him hiding in the toilet of his former residence.
The defendant gave police a false account of the woman’s injury involving him falling onto her hand, the court heard.

Subsequent to Wilson’s arrest and remand in pre-sentence custody, his victim had been re-traumatised by threats and harassment from Wilson’s family, angered at the imprisonment of one of their own, Chief Justice Michael Grant found.

“This is one of the very unfortunate consequences which are often seen with violent offending by men against women in Aboriginal communities,” the judge said.

“The men are the aggressors and the perpetrators but the women are further victimised because the aggressors are being punished by the justice system.

“As a result of the harassment that has been directed to the victim, she has had to leave her home to get away from the trouble and, in all likelihood, will be required to leave Tennant Creek.”

The court heard Wilson, despite his age, already had an “extensive” criminal history featuring multiple convictions for aggravated assaults on females, multiple convictions for breaching domestic violence orders and multiple convictions for unlawful entry, property damage and stealing.

Wilson, who grew up in Wilora and has two children, admitted to abusing alcohol, which Chief Justice Grant found was the main driver of his offending.

He sentenced Wilson to three years and four months’ imprisonment, backdated to his arrest and remand on February 5 this year, with a non-parole period of 20 months.

Originally published as Zac Wilson: Tennant Creek thug jailed for breaking ex’s arm as family cops a spray from judge