The court heard the man has been suspended from his job as a lawyer with the Federal Government. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
CONTENT WARNING: This story refers to domestic violence.
A lawyer who assaulted his partner with a cricket bat before pretending to call an ambulance has been jailed.
In October 2025, the man struck his partner with the bat during an argument in their apartment.
To avoid identifying the victim, Region has chosen not to name the man.
In a recently published decision from the ACT Magistrates Court, Magistrate Ian Temby said the lawyer’s offending was “violent and dangerous”.
“[The victim] was scared. She thought [the man] was going to kill her,” Magistrate Temby said of the incident.
“She ran away and crouched down behind a lounge. She tried to protect her head with her arms and repeatedly told [the man], ‘No’.”
The man hit her on her upper back, leaving her with a tingling sensation and pain.
Magistrate Temby said the man then pretended to call an ambulance before leaving the apartment.
“[The woman] begged [the man] to obtain medical assistance for her; however, he did not do so.
“He questioned whether she was really injured … and he implied that the incident was her fault.”
The woman eventually called an ambulance for herself.
The attack left the woman with a spinal fracture at the base of her neck, swelling and bruising.
She spent three days in hospital, and has ongoing pain and neck stiffness. She has also moved interstate to live with her parents for support.
“She thinks about what [the offender] did to her every day,” Magistrate Temby said.
He put the man’s offending at the upper end of objective seriousness for his charge.
Following the incident, the man claimed he didn’t call an ambulance because he was in shock, but Magistrate Temby rejected this.
He said the man showed “deliberate and sustained” cruelty in pretending to call an ambulance, pointing to his repeated claims that he had called for help.
“I listened to the audio recordings of his exchange with [the woman] following the assault and he is calm, deliberate and cruel,” Magistrate Temby said.
“In my view, the reason why he did not help [her] was because, as he said at the time, he was taking pleasure in her pain as he considered that she had wronged him. He told her that he was enjoying it and that it felt good because of how mean he thought she had been to him.”
Magistrate Temby also rejected the man’s argument that his own mental health had impacted on his moral culpability for the attack.
“As the prosecution submitted, [the man] is intelligent and has succeeded in his studies and employment,” he said.
“There is no general history of violence outside of his relationship and, as he conceded, he is generally able to manage his frustrations and emotions.”
He also found that the man was not remorseful “in a way that enhances the prospects of rehabilitation”.
“I do not doubt that he regrets putting himself in that position, and that it might motivate him to pursue rehabilitation … but I do consider his prospects of rehabilitation are guarded and that the speed for specific deterrence is clear,” the magistrate found.
The man spent three days in custody before being released on bail, which Magistrate Temby used to backdate his sentence.
He had no criminal history.
Magistrate Temby discounted the man’s sentence by 19 per cent because of a guilty plea.
On a charge of aggravated assault occasioning actual bodily harm, he handed him a sentence of two years and five months’ imprisonment.
He will be eligible for parole in January 2028.
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.