Goldfields man’s sentence to ‘send a message’ to community after violent attack on partner in drunken argument

A Goldfields man who violently attacked his partner in a drunken argument has been handed a penalty to “send a message” to the community.

Phillip Geoffrey Everett, 35, appeared in Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court on Monday, where he pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated assault and two counts of breaching bail.

The court was told the father-of-two struck his 33-year-old partner in her face during an argument in April.

The woman was left with “bleeding and bruising” from the attack, which took place at a Northam property.

Court officer Murray Stubbs, who appeared on Everett’s behalf, said the pair — who had been together for six years — had both been drinking for several hours before the incident.

Police prosecutor Nat Parkyn said Everett was too intoxicated for police to conduct a video interview when they took him into custody.

He told police he was “defending” himself after his partner scratched him.

First Class Const. Parkyn said punching a female partner in the face was an “entirely unacceptable” offence of a type the court saw “far too often”.

Magistrate Paul Lyons agreed this type of offending was “far too common”, with the injuries he had seen in photographs being “no doubt frightening and shocking” to receive.

“People need to understand the use of force against a partner is entirely unacceptable,” he said.

Mr Lyon said it would require more than a fine to “send a message” to Everett and others in the community.

Everett was sentenced to a seven-month community based order with supervision and program requirements.

He was handed a global fine of $350 for the two breaches of bail.

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