A Nowra man has been jailed for 16 months over an incident that left his nine-year-old son bloodied and bruised. He will have to serve a minimum of nine months before being eligible for parole. The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, hung his head and sobbed for much of the sentencing hearing in Nowra Local Court on Wednesday, December 6. He had pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and breaching an apprehended violence order during an earlier court appearance. Police evidence presented to the court stated another adult noticed the boy had lacerations on his forehead and bruising on his forehead and arms, and called the father saying he should organise medical care for the child. But when the boy was told his father would pick him up, he replied, "I'm scared, please don't make me go with him, you don't know what he will do to me". Police were called and the child was taken to Shoalhaven Hospital, where he told staff his dad hit him when he drank whisky. He also said his father had punched him and hit him with an alarm clock, according to the police statement. After investigators from the child abuse unit attended the hospital to talk to the youngster, the father was arrested at his home on October 4. The police statement said a broken alarm clock was found in a bin, and the father admitted using "excessive force" when dealing with his son. The father also said he had already cleaned up and washed a blood-stained pillow case by the time police arrived to search the home, according to the statement. Police evidence submitted to the court said the man was the subject of a 12-month community corrections order running from February 2, 2023, and there was an apprehended violence order in place to protect the child following an earlier incident. Magistrate Lisa Viney said the presence of the community corrections and apprehended violence orders were among "several aggravating factors" in the incident. Other factors were the nature of injuries inflicted on the youngster, and the fact the assault was "committed at home, a place where a child should feel protected by their parent". Ms Viney also noted a report saying the man did not see himself as a violent person, but "That is certainly not reflected in your offending behaviour". The man's lawyer, Matthew Zappia, stressed "nothing I say is offered by way of excuse," but tried to put the incident into context. He said the man had just been evicted from one house, and was in the process of moving to another with a much higher rent, putting him under huge financial pressure. He responded to that by drinking 10 cans of spirits in two hours - about the equivalent to 14 standard drinks - in two hours on the night of the incident. The man was also battling undiagnosed and untreated PTSD as a result of abuse he and his sisters suffered when they were young, for which his father was jailed, Mr Zappia said.