By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
A MAN accused of spitting on his partner and pushing her backwards onto a coffee table has won judicial praise for changing his ways.
The 27-year-old Dandenong IT worker had thrown a glass and food on the floor as the couple’s baby cried during a dinner-time argument, Dandenong Magistrates’ Court heard on 9 November.
Police prosecutor Senior Constable Tess Davison said the man then spat on his wife’s face and squeezed her neck.
In the midst of the assault, he took the baby from her arms.
As he held the child, the accused pushed the victim, causing her to fall back and smash a coffee table.
The man told police that he pushed away the victim as he tried to leave, admitting she had “done no harm to me”.
The accused, who had a prior assault conviction involving his brother, pleaded guilty to assaulting his wife.
The man’s lawyer told the court that the man and his partner had not committed to separation, though he now lived with his parents.
“He was undergoing a lot of stress due to having a new child and his work.
“He never had the chance to undergo counselling and talk about his feelings.”
The man had since attended and committed to a men’s behaviour change course in the hope of regaining his family and rebuilding a healthy relationship with his wife.
“This particular behaviour is out of character. He doesn’t generally act in anger,” the lawyer said.
“It is quite shocking to members of the family that this occurred.”
Magistrate Jack Vandersteen said the man’s “disgraceful” behaviour demeaned his wife, and described him holding the baby from her as a powerplay.
“Do you spit in your boss’s face at work and throw things on the ground? Do you punch on with the referee?
“What makes it worse is she’s your wife. If there’s anyone you should respect, it’s her.”
Mr Vandersteen, however, praised the man for booking into the men’s behaviour course – an action that few offenders initiate.
For that reason, the man was convicted and placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond.
Under the bond, he was ordered to pay $750 to the court’s charitable fund and complete the men’s behaviour program.
Mr Vandersteen, however, extended an interim intervention order protecting the victim until a further hearing in January.
“If you want to wear that ring and work towards reconciliation you have to prove that it won’t happen again.”
