An Illawarra man who bashed his girlfriend in front of their one-year-old son four days before Christmas last year has been sentenced to 18 months jail.
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Police arrived at the Berkeley house on the afternoon of December 21 following reports of an ongoing domestic incident involving the man and his partner.
They heard yelling and a muffled scream from inside the premises, a small child crying and a male voice say "stay here, I'm gonna go bash mummy again".
Officers forced their way into the house to discover the victim with a number of grazes to her nose and lip area and a chunk of hair missing.
The woman told police she and her partner, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had just returned from a friend's house when they got into an argument, prompting him to grab her by the hair and drag her onto the kitchen floor.
He then held his hand over the woman's face and nose, cutting off her breathing, before biting her on the nose.
The woman told police she attempted to yell out during the ordeal and tried to reach for her phone a number of times.
Meantime, police were alerted to the incident via an anonymous phone call.
They arrived a few minutes later to find the victim at the rear of the house, the man in the shower and the couple's youngest child crying.
The man was detained while officers spoke to the woman and recorded her statement via video.
When told he would be arrested, the man asked became aggressive towards police, thrashing his legs around and kicking at police as they tried to handcuff him.
He was eventually subdued via capsicum spray and taken to Lake Illawarra Police Station, where he was charged with assault and contravening domestic violence order offences.
He was refused bail in Wollongong Local Court the following day, despite denying telling his son he was going to "bash mummy" and claiming he been acting in self defence at the time of the incident.
However, in court on Tuesday, the man accepted responsibility for his actions, pleading guilty to five charges in total.
Magistrate Mark Douglass labelled the man’s action “disturbing”, noting he had drunk at least two beers prior to the incident, despite the apprehended violence order banning him from being around the woman within 12 hours of having any alcohol.
He set a non-parole period of six months and ordered the man be supervised by NSW Probation and Parole upon his release,” saying it was “very desirable” for the community that he undertake alcohol and drug management courses whilst on parole.