Mandurah man repeatedly abused wife, hurt his child

The man, who can’t be named to protect his victims, appeared in Mandurah Magistrates Court via video link from Hakea Prison, where he had been in custody for three weeks.

The police prosecutor told the court that the accused was in the kitchen with his wife on July 25 when they began arguing in front of their two-year-old child.

During the argument he pushed his wife, slamming her and the child into a wall.

The accused punched her in the head, causing her to black out.

When she woke up she begged her husband to call an ambulance, but he refused because “he did not want to go to jail”.

She sustained bruising to the face, a cut on the right side of her head, and rib and shoulder soreness.

On August 12, the victim reported the attack to police.

She was attacked by her husband again on August 13.

He said she got the bruises by jumping on the bed and hitting herself in the eye with her elbow.

After that attack, he was served a violence restraining order (VRO).

On August 17, he approached the victim at their children’s school.

Teachers were aware of the VRO and called police.

On September 26, police received a call from the victim saying the accused was smashing their house up.

They found him hiding under a bed and took him into custody.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching a VRO and unlawful assault causing bodily harm with circumstances of aggravation.

The man also pleaded guilty to driving without a licence, failing to wear a seatbelt and using a mobile phone while driving.

This was his sixth driving conviction.

Brian Mahon, counsel for the accused, said his client, a former fly-in, fly-out worker, was addicted to synthetic cannabis.

“In my experience people working FIFO think it is good to use this drug, as it’s undetectable,” he said.

“But he has created a raft of problems for himself.”

Mr Mahon said the stress of losing his job, losing his home and the birth of another child contributed to the stress that led to his client’s offending behaviour.

Mr Mahon said the victim was in court in support of her husband, but would not live with him if he were released.

For driving without a licence the accused received a seven-month prison term, suspended for a year and a $1000 fine for using his phone and failing to wear a seatbelt.

He received a 15-month intensive supervision order with urinalysis requirements in relation to the domestic violence offences.

Magistrate Vivien Edwards said she hoped that while the accused was on the order he would learn how to deal with conflict without violence.