A MAN hit his wife with a metal rod and assaulted a young child during a drunken attack, a court has been told.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The man appeared in the Bendigo Magistrates' Court on Friday where he pleaded guilty to nine charges including two counts of recklessly causing injury.
The court heard about 11.30pm on November 27 last year, the woman returned home to find her husband intoxicated.
Read other news:
The couple had an argument about the children and the man became abusive, yelling at his wife and following her around the home.
The woman's young daughter witnessed the abuse.
The man then grabbed a metal rod from a fire safety guard and struck the woman on the back.
The daughter went to her mother, but the man moved her away and told her to go to her room.
The woman went to the laundry and the man followed, pushing up against her.
The daughter went to her mother again and the man grabbed the girl's arm and threw her across the room.
The girl went to her mother a third time while the man was punching the woman to the head.
The court heard one of the punches bounced off the woman and struck the child.
The woman told her daughter to go to the neighbours to ask for help. She followed the instructions and the woman also went to the neighbour's property where police were called.
The court heard the man went to the neighbour's house, yelling abuse. He eventually left the property and drove off.
Police attended a short time later and ensured the woman and child were relocated to a friend's address.
When officers returned about 2.52am they found him back inside the home.
He refused to cooperate with police and threatened to stab officers with a knife if they didn't leave. Officers called for the Critical Incident Response Team.
While they waited for the team to arrive from Melbourne, the man yelled at police from his front porch, throwing items around the front yard and rocks at police cars.
The response team arrived about 6am and arrested the man. The court heard he pushed officers and kicked at the police car during the arrest.
The woman and her daughter attended hospital after the incident and were treated for injuries including bruises.
The man denied assaulting the woman and child but admitted to verbally abusing his wife.
The court heard then on December 24 last year, the man had a verbal altercation with his mother.
She reported the incident to police and then later that day, the man sent his mother 25 abusive text messages.
The messages included, "I won't even go to your funeral" and "you're dead to me".
Read other news:
Defence lawyer Robert Morgan told the court the man had no prior convictions for family violence offences and had never previously served time in jail.
Mr Morgan said his client was genuinely remorseful and "disgusted, ashamed, and embarrassed" at the "appalling" offending.
The defence lawyer said the man had little recollection of the incident but made no attempt to dispute the charges.
Mr Morgan submitted the magistrate should consider the 81 days of pre-sentence detention as time served and release the man on a community corrections order.
Magistrate Russell Kelly said the "shocking" offending fell into "one of the worst categories of family violence".
The magistrate said the woman and child could be traumatised for a long time because of the incident.
Magistrate Kelly said a jail term with a non-parole period could be within range, but ultimately a prison sentence with a community corrections order might be more appropriate.
The man was ordered to undergo the corrections assessment. He was remanded in custody and is due to return to court in April.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark bendigoadvertiser.com.au/
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/BgoAddy
- Follow us on Instagram instagram.com/bendigoadvertiser/
- Follow us on Google News