![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/d2b83f25-vav3pgj9803s8gz_j8qwu.jpg\")
Man gets suspended sentence after fracturing woman\u2019s arm with cricket bat. Image \/ Stock<\/p>\nThe Supreme Court of Tasmania has sentenced a man who struck a woman with a cricket bat, fracturing her arm and leaving her needing surgery and an overnight stay in hospital.<\/p>\n
Nathan Brian Sproule, 53, was handed a 12-month suspended sentence after pleading guilty to the assault and to multiple breaches of a family violence order meant to protect the victim.<\/p>\n
The court heard the assault happened at the woman\u2019s home on November 9, 2023 \u2013 despite an order already banning Sproule from contacting her or being on the property.<\/p>\n
The violence broke out in the early hours of the morning during an argument, after the woman asked Sproule to leave and refused to give back his computer bag.<\/p>\n
Justice Michael Brett told the court the woman had picked up a cricket bat during the dispute, but Sproule snatched it from her and used it against her.<\/p>\n
Man gets suspended sentence after fracturing woman\u2019s arm with cricket bat. Image \/ Stock<\/p>\n
\u201cYou took the bat off her and struck her with it on the arm, in an attempt to have her release the bag,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe blow must have been delivered with considerable force because it caused a fracture of her arm.\u201d<\/p>\n
In her victim impact statement, the woman said she still suffers pain from the attack, with ongoing twinges in her arm and neck.<\/p>\n
Despite the seriousness of the assault, Justice Brett opted for a wholly suspended sentence. <\/p>\n
He noted Sproule took the woman to hospital as she did not have a drivers licence and was having difficulty arranging an appointment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was an act of serious family violence. A sentence of imprisonment is called for,\u201d he said, but added that supervision would better support rehabilitation.<\/p>\n
The court heard both Sproule and the woman had often ignored the protection order, spending time together by consent before the November incident.<\/p>\n
Sproule\u2019s record includes earlier breaches of family violence orders involving the same woman. In August 2023, he was convicted of breaching an interim family violence order and bail conditions.<\/p>\n
Under the suspended sentence, he must serve 18 months of probation. The assault will also be permanently recorded on his criminal history as a family violence offence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Supreme Court of Tasmania has sentenced a man who struck a woman with a cricket bat, fracturing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":109826,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":["post-109825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}