A 48-year-old man was sentenced to over three years’ jail by the ACT Supreme Court for an attack on his then-partner. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to family violence.
Police officers called to a house after a man slashed his partner’s face with a sword arrived to find the woman “covered in blood” and pleading for her life.
The pair got into an argument at his home in northern Canberra on a night in July 2024, and he became extremely angry, the ACT Supreme Court heard.
He told her that while police had taken his gun away, he still had a sword.
He got the weapon, which had a 60 cm-long blade, from his bedroom then swung it at the woman’s face, hitting her in the chin.
She began bleeding and received a call from her son on her phone, so screamed at him for help.
Meanwhile, the police had received a report of a domestic dispute where a man was “going off his head”.
As officers arrived at the door of the man’s home, they heard the woman pleading for her life.
She later said she thought if the officers hadn’t arrived when they did, she would be dead.
“You brought out a sword instead of having a conversation with me,” the woman said to the man in a statement for the court.
The man, who is aged 48 but not named to protect the woman’s identity, pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
On Tuesday (6 May), Chief Justice Lucy McCallum told the court the incident was an extremely serious example of this charge.
She said the woman had been left with two open wounds to her chin, one of which required stitches that would result in permanent scars.
She may also suffer from long-lasting pain to her chin and the psychological impact on her has been “grave”, the chief justice said.
The man will remain in custody for at least two years after he was sentenced. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
The chief justice said “to her credit”, while the woman said some impacts of the attack will take years to recover from, this would not stop her from achieving her goals and moving on.
When it came to the man, Chief Justice McCallum said she was not satisfied he had shown any remorse.
He had told the author of a court report that he mainly disagreed with the facts of the case, which he had pleaded guilty to, and put responsibility for the offending onto the woman.
The chief justice said “blaming the victim is a recurring trope” in family violence.
When slashing a person’s face with a sword, “the person who bears 100 per cent of the responsibility is the offender”, she said.
The man had been injured during a scuffle with police when he was arrested that night and suffered a seizure, resulting in him being taken to hospital.
But Chief Justice McCallum said that as he didn’t cooperate with police and the officers attending the scene found a woman “covered in blood” and a man holding a sword, he should expect “firm action”.
The man, who is a disability pensioner, was convicted and sentenced to a total of three years and three months’ jail with a two-year non-parole period.
With time served, the man will be eligible to be released from July 2026.
If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732. Help and support are also available through the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on 02 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT 02 6280 0900, the Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call Triple Zero.
Actually I think Brendan Smyth was elected member for Canberra in 1995. View