Year in the clink for Hobart man who ‘belted’ pregnant girlfriend and threw drum of fuel at her

A Hobart judge has condemned the “appalling” acts of a Hobart man who “belted” his pregnant girlfriend.

A HOBART man who “belted” his pregnant girlfriend and threw fuel on her will spend at least a year in jail for his “appalling” crime.

Hayden Dwayne Cook initially denied the violent attack, claiming his partner had in fact hit herself in the head.

“Trust me, if I wanted to belt her, I would have belted her 12 months ago when she put me in jail,” he told police at the time.

Cook appeared in the Supreme Court of Tasmania on Friday after pleading guilty to one count of assault.

While sentencing, Justice Gregory Geason said Cook and his girlfriend, who was seven weeks’ pregnant, were living together at Herdsmans Cove in April this year.

When the woman asked Cook to move out, he refused to do so.

Tasmanian man Hayden Dwayne Cook assaulted his pregnant girlfriend and threw a drum of fuel at her. Picture: Facebook

They later argued about this, which “escalated to a physical struggle inside the bedroom”.

Cook smashed the woman’s phone, then later attacked the woman in the kitchen with a green, one-metre-long fibreglass handle, hitting her eye.

The same day, the woman experienced vaginal bleeding and told Cook: “look at what you’ve done”.

He kicked a door, which struck her forehead, then threw a fuel canister at her.

Tasmania Police arrived, finding the woman injured and smelling strongly of accelerant.

Cook was arrested, admitting to police he’d thrown a drum of fuel at her, but didn’t intend for the fuel to splash on her.

“You said you intended to plead insanity for this, and that you were suffering from a mental health condition, even though you’ve not been diagnosed with anything,” Justice Geason said.

“You said to police ‘trust me, if I wanted to belt her, I would have belted her 12 months ago when she put me in jail’.”

Justice Geason said Cook had a poor record of family violence, although he seemed to have developed “some insight” into his behaviour.

“In my view, this was an appalling example of this category of offence,” he said.

Justice Geason jailed Cook for 18 months, with a non-parole period of one year.

He also activated a previously suspended sentence for other offending, which will partly run concurrently with the new jail term.

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