A MAN who viciously assaulted a woman, grabbing her around the neck so tightly she passed out, has been jailed, with the sentence wholly suspended under Section 12.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Stephen Fawns, 23, of Rocket Street, appeared before magistrate Michael Allen in Bathurst Local Court on Monday.
Police facts tendered to the court told how Fawns assaulted the victim in her home at 11am on October 29 last year.
The victim was at her address in Beddie Street and getting ready to go and spend the night at her mother’s house, police facts said.
She was in her bedroom and the accused was standing in the doorway.
She was ready to go, but Fawns did not want her to leave, so he blocked her in the bedroom by not moving out of the doorway.
“Please let me out, please let me leave,” she said to him, but he would not move.
She tried to move towards the door and Fawns grabbed her by the neck, pushing her into the door frame.
He pushed his thumbs into the front of her throat and held her neck so tightly she passed out and fell to the floor.
The victim woke up some time later lying on the floor.
She was disorientated and unaware how long she had been unconscious. She felt pain in her neck and her face and was covered in blood.
The accused was pacing over her, saying: “What have I done?”
The victim asked Fawns to leave the house and he threatened to harm her and her animals if she told anyone what had happened and he left the property.
The court heard the victim was so scared of the accused that she did not call police or seek medical help for her injuries.
Police said the victim had bruising to her neck and was unable to speak clearly for days.
Both her eyes were bruised and her nose was very painful and bleeding.
The accused was sent to jail for other matters on January 16, 2017, so the victim felt safe enough to make a report to police.
An AVO was applied for and is enforceable until January 22, 2018. The accused was sent correspondence in jail offering the opportunity to be interviewed, but declined.
Mr Allen jailed Fawns for 10 months wholly suspended under Section 12.
He was also ordered to accept Community Corrections supervision including residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation.